THE  CULTS  OF  OSTIA 


a  ^Dissertation 


PRESENTED   TO    THE   FACULTY   OF    BRYN    JIAWR   COLLEGE    IN    PARTIAL 

FULFILMENT   OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE   DEGREE 

OF  DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 


LILY    ROSS    TAYLOR 


BL8I3 
.6dT£4 


,  17 


>  PRINCETON,  N   J.  *& 


81 


Division 

-     T~  0  A- 
Section   > 


THE  CULTS  OF  OSTIA 


a  dissertation 


PRESENTED   TO   THE   FACULTY   OF   BRYN   MAWR   COLLEGE  IN   PARTIAL 

FULFILMENT   OF   THE   REQUIREMENTS   FOR   THE   DEGREE 

OF   DOCTOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 

V 
LILY   ROSS   TAYLOR 


BRYN    MAWR,    PENNSYLVANIA 
DECEMBER,    1912 


Copyright,  1913,  by  Bryn  Mawr  College 


.T.  H.    FURST  COMPANY,    PRINTERS 
BALTIMORE 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction    1 

I.    Greek  and  Roman  Gods 14 

Vulcan    14 

Capitoline  Triad 21 

Castor  and  Pollux 22 

Liber  Pater   27 

Venus,  Fortuna,  Ceres,  Spes 31 

Pater    Tiberinus 34 

Genius  Coloniae  Ostiensium 35 

Hercules 36 

Silvanus    37 

Gods  of  Collegia 41 

Minor  Cults 42 

II.    The  Cult  of  the  Emperors 46 

III.    Oriental  Gods 57 

Magna  Mater 57 

Egyptian    Gods 66 

Syrian   Gods 76 

Mithras 82 

Other    Solar   Divinities 92 

Sabazis   93 

Caelestis 93 

Conclusion 94 


LIST  OF  ABBREVIATIONS 


Ann.  dell' Inst. — Annall  dell'In-stituto  di  corrispondenza  ar- 

cheologica. 
Bull.  dell'Inst. — Bullet ino  dell'Instituto  di  corrispondenza 

archeologica. 
CIG. — Corpus  Inscriptionum  Graecarum. 
CIL.1 — Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latinarum. 
BE. — Ephemeris  Ep igraphica. 
IG. — Inscriptiones  Graecae. 
Mel. — Melanges  d'Archeologie  et  d'Histoire  del'Ecole  fran- 

caise  de  Borne. 
NS. — Notizie  degli  Scavi  di  Antichita. 
Panly-Wissowa — Pauly-Wissowa,    Beat    Encyclopaedic    der 

classischen  A  Itertumswissenschaft. 
Eoscher — Roscher,  Ausfiihrliches  Lexicon  der  griecliischen 

und  romischen  Mythologie. 
Ruggiero — Ruggiero,  Dizionario  epigrafico  di  Antichita  ro- 

mane. 

inscriptions  cited  by  number  only  are  from  Vol.  xiv.  The  inscrip- 
tions have  been  quoted  without  the  indication  of  the  divisions  of  the 
lines,  and,  in  general,  without  the  use  of  sic  to  show  unusual  or 
ungrammatical  forms. 


INTKODUCTION 

Ostia,  the  port  of  Home,  was  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiber  about  sixteen  miles  from  the  metropolis.  Under  the 
name  Ostia  I  include  not  only  the  original  settlement  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Tiber,  but  also  the  city,  known  as  Portus, 
which  grew  up  about  the  harbors  of  Claudius  and  Trajan 
two  miles  north  of  the  river's  mouth.  Ostia  was  a  city  of 
considerable  size  during  the  second  and  third  centuries  after 
Christ.  In  the  extent  of  its  ruins  and  in  the  number  of  its 
inscriptions  it  is  surpassed  only  by  Eome  and  Pompeii  in 
Italy.  And  yet  its  history  and  topography  have  received 
a  relatively  small  share  of  attention.  This  neglect  is  due, 
at  least  in  part,  to  the  desultory  and  unscientific  character 
of  most  of  the  excavations,  and  to  the  fact  that,  even  when 
the  excavations  have  been  carefully  conducted,  the  results 
have  often  been  inadequately  published.1  At  present,  how- 
ever, great  interest  is  being  aroused  in  this  site  by  the  more 
thorough  work  that  is  now  in  process  there.  Systematic 
excavations,  begun  in  1907  under  the  direction  of  the  Italian 
Ministry  of  Public   Instruction,   bid  fair  to   continue  for 

1  The  earliest  excavations  at  Ostia,  those  of  the  Scotchman  Gavin 
Hamilton  and  of  the  Englishman  Robert  Fagan  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  were  conducted  simply  in  search  of  works  of  art  and 
were  never  published.  Excavations  were  carried  on  under  various 
auspices  intermittently  throughout  the  nineteenth  century,  and  accounts 
and  discussions  of  them  occurred  in  various  journals,  such  as  the 
Annali  and  Bulletino  dell'Instituto  di  correspondenza  archeologiea. 
Since  1876  accounts  of  the  work  have  appeared  in  the  Notizie  degli 
Scavi  di  Antichita.     See  Paschetto,  Ostia,  colonia  romana,  pp.  485  ff. 

1 


&  THE    CULTS    OF    OSTIA 

some  years.2  Very  valuable  results  have  already  been  ob- 
tained, and  more  may  be  expected  in  the  future.  A  great 
service  has  been  rendered  archaeologists  by  the  prompt  pub- 
lication of  the  finds  by  Professor  Dante  Vaglieri  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  work  at  Ostia.  In  addition  to  this,  Signore 
L.  Paschetto  has  recently  published  a  comprehensive  mono- 
graph dealing  with  the  history  and  topography  of  the  city.3 
Important  contributions  to  these  subjects  have  also  been 
made  by  M.  Carcopino  4  of  the  French  school  in  Rome.5 

These  recent  discoveries  and  researches  have  provided 
new  and  valuable  evidence  for  the  history  of  the  city,  which 
is  still,  however,  obscure  in  many  important  details.  Before 
proceeding  to  a  discussion  of  the  various  cults  of  Ostia,  it 
is  desirable  to  outline  briefly  those  facts  in  the  history  of 
the  city  which  are  essential  to  the  understanding  of  such  a 
study. 

According  to  a  tradition  never  questioned  by  Roman 
historians,  Ostia,  which  was  generally  supposed  to  be  the 
first  colony  of  Rome,  was  founded  by  King  Ancus  Marcius.6 
Ennius  (Ann.  n.  frg.  22  V  2)  and  Polybius  (vi.  2,  9),  whose 


2  Vide  NS.  1907  ff. 

3  Ostia,  colonia  romana,  storia  e  monumenti.  Prefazione  di  Dante 
Vaglieri,  in  Dissertazioni  delta  pont.  accad.  rom.  di  arch.  Ser.  II,  Tomo 
x,   1912,   pp.    1-593.     3   plans. 

"On  the  port  of  Claudius,  NS.  1907,  pp.  734-740;  on  the  mosaic  of 
the  barracks  of  the  vigiles,  Mel.  1907,  pp.  227-241.  A  series  of  articles 
entitled  Ostiensia  by  Carcopino  is  now  appearing  in  the  Melanges 
d'Archeologie  et  d'Histoire  de  Vtcole  francaise  de  Rome.  Thus  far 
four  have  appeared: — I.  Glanures  epigraphiques,  1909,  pp.  341-364; 
II.  Le  Quartier  des  docks,  1910,  pp.  397-446;  III.  Les  inscriptions 
gamalicnnes,  1911,  pp.  143-230;  IV.  Notes  compUmentaires,  1911,  pp. 
365-368.  Cf.  also  Les  r6centes  fouilles  d'Ostie,  Journal  des  Savants, 
1911,   pp.   448-468. 

5  It  is  fortunate  that  the  inscriptions  have  been  published  by  so 
careful  a  scholar  as  Dessau.  See  GIL.  xiv  (1887),  nos.  1-2085;  4127- 
4175;  EE.  vii  (1892),  nos.  1190-1233;  ibid.  IX  (1910),  nos.  433-570. 
Another  supplement  containing  inscriptions  of  Ostia  is  soon  to  appear. 

eLivy  I.  33;  xxvri.  38;  Dionys.  in.  44;  Cic.  De  Rep.  II.  18,  23. 


INTRODUCTION 


common  source  was  probably  Fabius  Pictor,  preserve  the 
tradition  of  the  early  date,  without  mentioning  a  colony 
there.  Fabius  may  have  drawn  upon  a  legend  current  in 
his  day,  or  perhaps  he  found  his  information  in  the  pontifi- 
cal records.  But  since  the  data  for  the  regal  period  in  these 
records  had  been  composed  entirely  of  legendary  matter,7  we 
must  conclude  that  the  story  of  the  founding  of  Ostia  is  no 
more  worthy  of  credence  than  the  rest  of  the  history  of  the 
kings,  as  reported  by  Fabius.  The  sum  of  our  knowledge 
is  that  before  the  end  of  the  third  century  b.  c.  a  legend 
was  current  to  the  effect  that  the  city  of  Ostia  was  founded 
several  centuries  before,  though  not  certainly  as  a  colony. 
In  Cicero's  day  tradition  held  that  Ancus  Marcius  had  also 
established  the  colony,  and  Festus  is  the  only  writer  who 
indicates  that  it  was  not  established  until  after  the  founda- 
tion of  the  city  by  Ancus.  Compare  Festus,  p.  197  M. 
Ostiam  urbem  ad  exitum  Tiberis  in  mare  fluentis  Ancus 
Marcius  rex  condidisse  et  feminine-  appellasse  vocabulo  fer- 
tur;  quod  sive  ad  urbem  sive  ad  coloniam  quae  postea  condita 
est  refertur. 

This  tradition  of  the  early  foundation  of  the  colony  at 
Ostia  has  not  been  questioned  until  recently.  Vaglieri  has 
noted 8  that  so  far  the  excavations  in  the  tombs  on  the 
present  site  have  brought  to  light  no  objects  which  can  be 
dated  before  the  third  century,  and  that  there  are  no  refer- 
ences to  the  existence  of  a  naval  station  at  Ostia  9  before  the 


7  Enmann,  Rheinisches  Museum,  1902,  pp.  517  ff.;  Cichorius  s.  v. 
Annales  Maximi,  Pauly-Wissowa. 

*KS.  1910,  p.  550  n.  1;  Bull.  Com.  1911,  pp.  244  f.  Introduction  to 
Paschetto,  op.  cit.  pp.  xxiv  f.  Cf.  also  Carcopino,  Journal  des  Savants, 
1911,   p.   467. 

9  Vaglieri  notes  that  the  city  must  have  been  established  before  the 
institution  of  the  quaestores  classici  in  267  B.  C.  Cf.  Mommsen, 
Rbmisches  Staatsrecht,  II.  p.  570;  Herzog,  Romische  Staatsverfassung, 
I.  pp.  823-825,  shows  that  there  is  no  good  reason  for  calling  the 
quaestor  stationed  at  Ostia  a   quaestor  classicus. 


4  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

time  of  the  Hannibalic  War.10  In  attempting  to  date  the 
colony,  some  aid  may  be  obtained  from  considerations  of  an 
economic  nature. 

The  tract  of  land  that  belonged  to  Ostia  was  confined  by 
the  Tiber  and  the  Laurentian  territory  to  a  very  few  square 
miles  of  marshy  or  sandy  land  which  was  quite  unfit  for 
cultivation.  It  could  not,  therefore,  have  served  the  pur- 
poses of  an  agricultural  colony.  There  are,  however,  two 
reasons  why  the  site  might  have  been  desirable  to  the  Romans 
at  an  early  period — first,  the  ease  with  which  salt  could  be 
procured  at  this  point,  and  second,  the  value  of  the  locality 
for  a  port.  Let  us  consider  whether  either  of  these  reasons 
might  have  led  Rome  to  plant  a  colony  here  early  in  her 
history. 

Salt  works  were  said  to  have  been  established  by  Ancus 
Marcius  at  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  Ostia.11  Since 
Rome  must  have  procured  her  salt  from  the  region  about 
the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  12  from  the  earliest  times,  it  is 
probable  that  Rome's  object  in  seizing  the  region  was  to 
gain  control  of  the  Salinae.  It  is  very  likely  that  a  village 
inhabited  by  laborers  in  the  Salinae  sprang  up  here  very 
early.  The  salt  industry,  however,  though  not  privately 
owned,  was  controlled  in  early  times  by  contract  and  not 
directly  by  the  state.13  Furthermore  Rome  was  very  slow 
to  adopt  a  policy  of  furnishing  state  protection  even  to 
quasi-public  business  interests.  The  existence  of  salt-works 
in  the  region  cannot  therefore  explain  the  establishment  of 
a  colony  of  Roman  citizens  at  Ostia. 

10  Further  evidence  is  supplied  by  a  number  of  republican  coins  dis- 
covered in  1909.  No  coins  were  found  which  could  be  dated  before 
254  B.  C.     Cf.  Carcopino,  I.  c.  p.  467. 

nLivy  i.   33;   Pliny,  H.  N.  xxxi.   41,   89. 

u  The  salt  works  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  seem  to  have  been 
older.     Cf.  Nissen,  Italische  Landeskunde,  n.  p.  543,  566. 

"Cf.  Marquardt,  Romische  Staatsverwaltung,  n.  pp.  159  ff. ;  Ros- 
towzew,  Philol.  Supp.  rx.  p.  411. 


INTRODUCTION  » 

The  need  of  a  port  for  Rome's  growing  commerce  is  the 
reason  generally  assigned  by  both  ancient  and  modern 
authorities  for  the  early  establishment  of  a  colony  at  Ostia.14 
And  yet  the  indications  are  that  until  the  third  century  b.  c. 
Rome  had  little  interest  in  commerce.15  There  is  slight 
evidence  that  the  Greeks  had  met  Roman  traders  before  that 
time.  Moreover,  before  282  Rome  had  been  bound  by  a 
treaty  with  Tarentum  which  prevented  her  ships  from  pass- 
ing the  Lacinian  headlands — a  treaty  which  could  not  have 
been  signed  by  any  state  that  had  the  least  real  interest  in 
maritime  commerce.16  Further  indications  of  the  same 
fact  may  be  found  in  Rome's  failure  to  build  a  navy  before 
the  First  Punic  War,  in  the  relatively  small  amount  of 
foreign  ware  dating  from  the  early  Republic  as  yet  dis- 
covered in  Roman  excavations,  and,  finally,  in  the  insignifi- 
cance of  the  coinage  issued  from  the  Roman  mint  before 
the  year  268  b.  c.  In  view  of  the  facts,  therefore,  that 
very  few  Romans  engaged  in  maritime  commerce  before  the 
third  century  and  that  the  state  was  always  unwilling  to 
incur  public  expense  even  for  domestic,  not  to  speak  of 
foreign  enterprises,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  Rome  for 
commercial  reasons  could  have  founded  a  colony  of  citizens 
at  the  Tiber's  mouth  long  before  the  third  century. 

The  original  settlement  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ostia, 
then,  was  probably  made  up  chiefly  of  people  connected  with 
the  Salinae.11  Since  the  results  of  excavations  indicate  that 
the  settlement  on  the  present  site  is  not  of  great  antiquity, 
the  suggestion  that  the  original  village  may  have  been  nearer 
to  Rome  than  was  the  later  city  commends  itself.18     Perhaps 

14  Dionys.  HI.  44;  Isidorus,  Orig.  XV.  1.  56;  Jung,  Oeographie  von 
Italien,  p.  31;   Nissen,  Italische  Landeskunde,  II.  pp.  566-567. 

18  On  Rome's  commerce  cf.  Blumner,  Privatleben  der  Rotner,  pp.  618  ff. 

"Polybius,    in.    22. 

11  This  is  the  opinion  of  Vaglieri,  I.  c. 

M  This  suggestion  was  made  first  by  Canina,  Dissertazioni  dell'accad. 
pontif.   di   Archeologia,   vil    (1838),   pp.   265  ff.     Cf.   Dessau   CIL.   xiv 


6  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Festus,  in  the  passage  quoted  above,  preserved  the  truth 
with  regard  to  the  subsequent  foundation  of  the  colony,  even 
if  he  is  too  credulous  in  adopting  the  legend  about  Ancus 
Marcius. 

Although  it  is  impossible  to  determine  when  the  colony 
was  established  here,  general  considerations  enable  us  to  fix 
upon  a  probable  date.  The  recent  excavations  have  made 
it  seem  likely  that  the  present  site  was  not  inhabited  before 
the  third  century  b.  c.  The  bold  appearance  of  Roman  ships 
at  Tarentum  in  282,  in  violation  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty, 
indicates  that  Roman  shipping  was  assuming  important  pro- 
portions in  the  early  third  century.  So  far  as  we  know, 
the  earliest  maritime  colonies  were  planted  at  Antium  (338 
b.  c.)  and  at  Tarracina  (329),  sea-coast  towns  which  had 
fallen  to  Rome  in  the  Latin  War.19  The  fact  that  in  317 
the  Antiates  complained  to  the  Senate  se  sine  legibus  certis, 
sine  magistratibus  agere  (Livy  ix.  20)  shows  that  Rome, 
still  inexperienced  in  the  management  of  colonies  of  citizens, 
had  not  yet  evolved  her  later  system  under  which  duumviri 
and  aediles  were  the  regular  magistrates  of  these  colonies.20 


p.  3,  n.  8.  Recently  it  has  received  support  from  Vaglieri,  I.  c.  But 
the  theory  of  Canina  that  the  city  was  gradually  extended  along  the 
river  as  the  coast  line  advanced  has  not  been  supported  by  the  results 
of  the  excavations.  The  present  site  seems  to  have  been  laid  out  at 
the  time  of  its  occupation  along  lines  that  held  throughout  its 
history.     Cf.  Carcopino,  Journal  des  Savants,  1911,  pp.  466  f. 

"  Cf.   Kornemann,   s.   v.   coloniae,   Pauly- Wissowa,   cols.   520  ff. 

20  Beloch,  Der  italische  Bund,  1880,  p.  114,  makes  the  statement: 
"  Die  Verfassung  der  See-colonien  war  im  Allgemeinen  der  der  Colonien 
lateinischen  Rechts  nachgebildet.  Wie  dort,  so  stehen  auch  hier  2 
Praetoren  an  der  Spitze  der  Stadt,  die  sich  z.  B.  in  Castrum  Novum 
bis  in  die  Kaiserzeit  hinein  erhalten  haben.  Die  Praetores  sacris  Vol- 
cano (sic)  faciundis,  die  wir  spater  in  Ostia  linden,  scheinen  zu  be- 
weisen,  dass  einst  auch  dieser  Stadt  Praetoren  vorstanden,  wenn  auch 
in  Folge  der  augusteischen  Colonisation  hier  die  Duumviralverfassung 
eingefuhrt  worden  ist.  Dagegen  in  den  nach  dem  hannibalischen 
Kriege  deducirten  Seecolonien  haben  sich  die  obersten  Magistrate  nicht 
mehr   Praetoren  genannt,   sondern   Duumviri."     Beloch's   conclusion   is 


INTRODUCTION  7 

In  296  Rome  continued  her  policy  of  securing  the  sea-coast 
for  herself  by  planting  colonies  of  citizens  at  Minturnae  and 
Sinuessa.  Probably  earlier  than  this,  but  not  much  earlier 
than  300  b.  a,  she  saw  the  desirability  of  safeguarding  her 
commerce  and  her  natural  harbor  by  placing  a  colony  of 
citizens  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  a  locality  that  had  long 
been  her  undisputed  possession. 

At  the  time  of  the  Second  Punic  War  Ostia  was  already 
a  walled  town  and  a  very  important  naval  station.21  When 
in  207  citizens  of  a  number  of  maritime  colonies  petitioned 
for  exemption  from  military  service,  the  request  was  granted 
only  to  Ostia  and  Antium  (Livy  xxvu.  38).  Citizens  of 
these  two  places  were,  however,  required  not  to  be  absent 
from  their  towns  more  than  thirty  days  at  a  time  when  a 
foreign  foe  was  in  Italy.  But  when  these  two  cities  with 
several  others  requested  exemption  from  service  in  the  fleet 
in  191,  the  petition  was  not  granted  (Livy  xxxvi.  3). 

During  the  period  of  the  Republic,  Ostia  had  no  harbor, 
and  so  ships  were  forced  to  land  in  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber.22 

not  supported  by  the  facts.  We  shall  consider  later  the  question  of 
the  praetors  of  Vulcan  of  Ostia.  The  case  of  Castrum  Novum  in 
Picenum,  which  is  known  to  have  had  praetors,  is  of  very  doubtful 
value  as  evidence,  since  it  is  by  no  means  certain  whether  the  colony 
of  citizens  of  the  third  century  was  established  there  or  at  the  city 
of  the  same  name  in  Etruria.  Of  the  citizen-colonies  supposed  to  have 
been  founded  before  the  time  of  the  Gracchi,  the  only  one  which  is 
known  to  have  had  praetors  is  Auximum,  and  the  evidence  for  the 
establishment  of  a  colony  there  (Velleius  i.  15,  3)  is  by  no  means 
certain.  There  seems  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  citizen-colonies 
were  ever  governed  as  the  Latin  colonies  were.  They  were  probably 
governed  by  duumviri  from  the  first.  Moreover,  there  is  no  support 
for  Beloch's  supposition  that  Augustus  reorganized  Ostia  or  that  he 
altered  the  administrative  system  of  the  colony. 

21  Carcopino  {M61.  1911,  p.  155,  n.  2)  calls  attention  to  the  reference 
to  the  wall  of  Ostia  in  Livy  xxvu.  23,  3.  For  other  references  to 
Ostia  as  a  naval  station  cf.  Livy  xxn.  11  and  37;  xxin.  38;  xxv.  20; 
xxvii.  22. 

"Dionys.  III.  44;    Polyb.  xxxi.  20,    11. 


8  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Indeed  the  alluvial  deposit  made  by  the  river,  which  has 
now  built  the  land  out  three  miles  beyond  ancient  Ostia, 
had,  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the  Republic,  made  it 
impossible  for  larger  ships  to  cross  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  and  reach  the  channel.  Strabo  (v.  3,  5,  p.  231) 
described  in  very  strong  terms  the  disadvantages  and  dangers 
of  the  port  in  his  day  (ca.  20  b.  c),  and  thought  it  surpris- 
ing that  ships  still  came  there.  Caesar  planned  to  remedy 
matters  by  constructing  an  artificial  harbor,  but  his  death 
prevented  the  fulfilment  of  the  plan  (Plutarch,  Caes.  58). 

Long  before  the  time  of  Caesar,  Rome  had  secured  as  a 
second  port  Puteoli,  which,  though  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  distant,  commended  itself  because  of  its  excellent 
harbor.  Puteoli  had  first  been  necessary  to  Rome  for  mili- 
tary purposes  during  the  Punic  Wars.  But  it  was  undoubt- 
edly her  growing  commerce  that  caused  her  to  establish  a 
custom  house  there  in  199  and  five  years  later  a  colony  of 
Roman  citizens.  Since  Southern  Italy  was  already  in  far 
closer  contact  with  the  Orient  than  Rome  was,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  Puteoli  became  Rome's  emporium  for  trade  with 
the  Orient  and  especially  with  Egypt.23 

Ostia  remained,  throughout  the  Republic  and  early  Em- 
pire, the  chief  port  for  the  grain  supply,  and  seems  also  to 
have  been  in  closer  relationship  with  the  Occident  than  was 
Puteoli.24  But  the  superiority  of  Puteoli's  facilities  as  a 
port  is  at  least  partially  responsible  for  the  fact  that  so  few 
monuments  and  inscriptions  of  the  Republic  and  early  Em- 
pire have  been  found  at  Ostia.  Though  the  excavations  now 
in  progress  are  bringing  to  light  important  remains  of  re- 
publican buildings,  so  far  there  is  very  little  evidence  for 
the  history  of  the  colony  during  that  period  and  the  early 

23  Cf.  Charles  Dubois,  Pouzzoles  antique,  Bibliotheque  des  Ecoles  fran- 
caises  d'Athenes  et  de  Rome,  Vol.  98,  Paris,  1907,  pp.  65  ff.  For  a 
comparison  of  Ostia  and  Puteoli  vide  pp.  78  ff. 

14  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  79,  is  probably  right  in  drawing  this  inference 
from  Pliny,  H.  N.  xix.  3. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

Empire.  The  city  seems  not  to  have  become  important 
before  the  time  of  Claudius. 

Caesar's  plan  of  making  a  good  harbor  was  finally  carried 
out  by  Claudius,  who  did  not  attempt  to  make  the  port  at 
Ostia ;  he  chose  a  site  two  miles  to  the  north,  which  he  con- 
nected with  the  Tiber  by  means  of  a  canal.  Here  he  built 
an  artificial  basin  and  constructed  a  lighthouse.  The  work 
had  already  been  begun  in  42  a.  d.25  Representations  of  the 
port  on  coins  of  Nero  indicate  that  it  was  not  finally  dedi- 
cated until  the  reign  of  that  emperor  26  to  whose  jealousy  is 
due  the  fact  that  it  was  called  Portus  Augusti  rather  than 
Portus  Claudii.  Even  this  harbor  proved  inadequate  to 
the  needs  of  the  shipping,  and  accordingly  it  was  enlarged 
by  Trajan.  An  hexagonal  basin  was  constructed  inside  the 
port  of  Claudius  and  was  given  the  name  Portus  Traiani. 
Considerable  remains  of  both  basins  may  be  seen  today.  A 
flourishing  town  with  many  important  public  buildings  soon 
sprang  up  about  the  port,  from  which  it  received  the  name 
Portus.27 

Although  Portus  was  two  miles  distant  from  the  old  town 
of  Ostia  and  separated  from  it  by  the  Tiber,  until  the  fourth 
century  the  two  cities  were  under  the  same  municipal  organi- 
zation and  had  the  same  magistrates  and  priests.28  Ostia 
proper,  far  from  decreasing  in  importance  after  the  new 
port  was  built,  became  a  large  commercial  city,  with  perhaps 
50,000  inhabitants.29     The  remains  of  the  city,  which  date 


"Cassius  Dio,  lx.   11.     Cf.  CIL.  xrv  85. 

*•  Cohen,  Me"dailles  impe'riales,  I.  Nero,  33-41. 

"  The  best  discussion  of  the  remains  of  Portu9  is  that  of  Lanciani, 
Ann.  dell'Inst.  1868,  pp.  144  ff.  Lanciani's  plan  of  the  harbor  of  Trajan 
is  given  in  Mon.  dell'Inst.  vni.  PI.  xlix.  The  excavations  at  Portus, 
which  have  not  been  continued  since  1870,  have  been  incomplete  and 
unscientific.  The  most  fruitful  work  has  been  that  on  the  Torlonia 
estate.     On  the  port  of  Claudius  cf.  Carcopino,  N8.  1907,  pp.  734  ff. 

M  Cf.  Dessau,  op.  cit.  p.  6. 

**  See  Paschetto,   op.  cit.  p.    187. 


10  THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

chiefly  from  the  second  and  third  centuries  after  Christ, 
seem  to  show  that  it  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt  after  the 
construction  of  the  port.  Inscriptions  furnish  much  valu- 
able evidence  for  the  history  of  the  colony  during  this  period. 
The  emperors  of  the  second  century  seem  to  have  been 
particularly  zealous  in  adorning  the  city. 

The  population  of  Ostia  during  this  period  was  largely 
of  the  middle  and  lower  classes.  Aristocratic  Romans, 
although  they  owned  villas  along  the  neighboring  coast,  seem 
not  to  have  been  attracted  to  Ostia.  The  commercial  char- 
acter of  the  population  is  well  shown  by  the  large  number 
of  professional  collegia  attested  in  the  inscriptions.  Traders 
from  the  East  who  had  hitherto  flocked  to  Puteoli  began  to 
come  to  Ostia  after  the  construction  of  the  port  of  Claudius. 
When  later  Trajan's  port  afforded  still  greater  facilities  for 
landing  near  Rome,  the  Campanian  city  declined  markedly 
in  importance,  as  her  northern  rival  rose.30 

Most  of  our  evidence  for  the  religious  history  of  Ostia 
falls  within  the  two  centuries  following  the  establishment 
of  the  new  port.  This  was  the  period  when  Oriental  re- 
ligions were  everywhere  undermining  the  old  Roman  beliefs 
and  religious  forms.  At  Ostia,  where  there  was  more  con- 
stant contact  with  the  East  than  elsewhere,  the  old  cults  had 
a  particularly  difficult  and  often  an  unsuccessful  struggle 
to  hold  their  own.  The  most  important  Oriental  worships 
were  firmly  established  here  in  the  second  century.  Christi- 
anity early  gained  a  strong  foothold,  and  the  later  history 
of  Ostia  and  Portus  is  closely  bound  up  with  the  history  of 
the  Church.31 


30  Cf.  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  81.  In  172  A.  D.  the  Tyrians  of  Puteoli 
complained  of  the  decrease  in  numbers  and  wealth  of  their  colony. 

w  The  later  history  of  Ostia  and  Portus  is  in  many  details  obscure. 
See  Vaglieri's  interesting  comments  (N8.  1910,  p.  106)  on  a  recently 
discovered  inscription  of  Ragonius  Vincentius  Celsus  vir  clarissimus, 
who  seems  to  have  erected  a  statue  to  Urbs  which  was  paid  for  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Ostia. 


INTRODUCTION" 


11 


The  present  study  is,  however,  concerned  only  with  the 
pagan  cults  of  Ostia.  The  evidence  for  these  cults  is,  of 
course,  mainly  epigraphical,  and,  as  we  have  indicated,  dates 
chiefly  from  the  second  and  third  centuries  after  Christ. 
Inscriptions  of  religious  significance,  while  they  are  rare  in 
the  first  century  of  the  Empire,  are,  with  one  possible  excep- 
tion, entirely  lacking  for  the  Republic.32  In  that  period 
our  only  direct  evidence  for  the  religion  of  the  city  is  found 
in  one  of  the  rare  literary  references  which  give  information 
about  the  cults  of  Ostia  (Livy  xxxn.  1,  10).  Finds  of 
statues  and  reliefs  supplement  our  knowledge  of  the  cults  of 
the  city.33  Especially  important  is  the  bas-relief  found  at 
Portus,  now  in  the  Museo  Torlonia,  which  gives  a  view  of 
the  harbor  of  Claudius.34 

The  most  important  evidence  for  the  history  of  the  Church  at 
Ostia  is  summarized  by  Dessau,  CIL.  xrv  p.  5.  See  Paschetto,  op.  cit. 
pp.  177  ff.  Evidence  for  the  presence  of  Jews  has  been  found  at 
Portus.     Cf.  ibid.  pp.   175  ff. 

82  While  further  excavations  will  doubtless  add  to  the  list  of  shrines, 
it  is  hardly  probable  that  new  cults  of  importance  will  be  discovered. 
The  list  of  the  priests  of  the  colony  must  be  practically  complete. 

33  It  is  doubtful  how  far  one  may  venture  to  use  the  statues,  reliefs, 
etc.  found  at  Ostia  and  Portus  as  evidence  for  the  cults  of  these  cities. 
Statues  of  Venus  and  Bacchus,  for  instance,  were  used  so  much  by  the 
Romans  for  ornamental  purposes,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  one  may 
attach  any  religious  significance  to  such  statues  discovered  at  Ostia. 
If  the  interesting  winged  female  statue  recently  discovered  at  Ostia 
represents  Athena  Victrix,  as  Savignoni  believes  it  does  (Ausonia,  1910, 
pp.  69  ff. ) ,  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  evidence  for  the  cult  of  that  goddess 
in  the  port.  The  case  is  different  with  representations  of  Oriental 
gods.  Many  of  the  statues  found  in  the  excavations  of  the  eighteenth 
century  are  in  private  collections  in  England  (cf.  Michaelis,  Ancient 
Marbles  in  Great  Britain,  index  s.  v.  Ostia)  ;  others  are  in  the  Vatican. 
Since  1800  the  finds,  except  for  a  few  which  have  been  placed  in  the 
small  museum  at  Ostia,  have  gone  to  museums  in  Rome,  the  Vatican, 
the  Lateran,  and,  more  recently,  the  National  Museum.  Objects  found 
at  Portus  have  gone  chiefly  to  the  Lateran  and  the  Museo  Torlonia. 
I  have  not  attempted  in  this  study  to  make  a  complete  list  of  statues 
of  the  gods  found  in  Ostia  and  Portus. 

M  Cf.  Guglielmotti,  Delle  due  navi  romane  scolpite  sul  bassorilievo  del 


12  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Remains  of  no  less  than  eleven  temples  and  of  several 
small  shrines  have  been  discovered  at  Ostia  and  Portus.35 
Only  the  shrines  of  Mithras,  the  form  of  which  is  unmistak- 
able, a  shrine  of  the  emperors,  and  the  temple  of  Magna 
Mater  at  Ostia  can  be  identified  beyond  a  doubt.  Various 
suggestions  for  the  identification  of  the  other  temples  have 
been  made.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  the  so-called 
temple  of  Portunus  at  Portus,36  the  identification  has  been 

Museo  Torlonia,  Atti  delta  pont.  Accad.  di  Archeologia,  Serie  n.  vol.  1, 
pp.  1-81;  Cavedoni,  Bull.  dell'Inst.  1864,  pp.  219  ff. ;  Henzen,  Ann. 
dell'Inst.  1864,  pp.  12  ff. ;  C.  L.  Visconti,  Catalogo  del  Museo  Torlonia, 
no.  430;  Inscription  2033. 

35  The  most  important  temple  of  Ostia  is  the  large  one  on  a  high 
podium  which  was  long  the  chief  landmark  of  the  city.  It  has  been 
variously  attributed  to  Vulcan,  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus,  and  Castor 
and  Pollux.  A  temple  in  the  centre  of  the  so-called  Forum  has  been 
identified  as  that  of  Ceres  or  of  Roma  and  Augustus.  Four  small 
temples  near  the  theatre  are  perhaps  to  be  identified  as  those  of  Venus, 
Fortuna,  Ceres,  and  Spes. 

At  Portus  the  only  ruins  of  temples  which  may  be  seen  today  are 
those  of  the  large  round  temple  to  the  east  of  the  port  of  Trajan, 
which  was  identified  as  that  of  Portunus  on  the  basis  of  a  forged 
inscription.  Within  the  estate  of  the  Torlonia  family  another  round 
temple,  supposed  to  be  that  of  Bacchus,  was  found.  Altmann,  Die 
Rundbauten  in  Latium,  p.  69,  says  of  these  temples:  "  Heute  zeigt 
keine  Spur  mehr,  wo  beide  gelegen  haben."  Then  he  gives  a  summary 
of  Nibby's  description  of  the  so-called  temple  of  Portunus,  which  fits 
excellently  the  temple  now  standing.  Another  small  temple,  of  which 
some  architectural  fragments  may  be  seen  today,  was  unearthed  to  the 
south  of  the  port  of  Trajan.  This  has  not  been  identified.  Within 
the  so-called  Palazzo  Imperiale  were  found  remains  of  still  another 
temple  which  was  believed  to  be  that  of  Hercules. 

m  Ligorio  forged  several  inscriptions  to  Portunus  which  he  claimed 
to  have  found  in  the  round  temple  at  Portus  discussed  above.  Cf. 
CIL.  xiv  *16,  *17,  *18.  Portunus,  who  was  the  god  of  harbors,  might 
naturally  have  been  expected  to  have  a  temple  in  Ostia  or  Portus,  and 
the  words  of  Varro,  L.  L.  vi.  19,  have  been  thought  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  such  a  temple:  Portunalia  dicta  a  Portuno  cui  eo  die  aedes  in 
Portu  Tiberino  facta  et  feriae  institutae.  If  the  words  of  Varro  are 
to  be  referred  to  Rome's  harbor,  we  must  look  for  the  temple  in  Ostia 
since  there  was  no  settlement  at  Portus  until  after  the  time  of  Varro. 
It  is   very  likely,  however,   that  Varro   refers  to  a  temple   in   Rome 


INTRODUCTION  13 

based  on  spurious  inscriptions,  but  in  other  cases,  as  for 
instance  that  of  the  supposed  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Ostia,  the 
evidence  for  the  identification  is  very  good.  No  attempt  to 
solve  the  problems  connected  with  these  temples  has  been 
made  in  the  present  investigation  for  which  independent 
topographical  study  has  been  impossible. 

itself — and  probably  to  the  small  circular  one  in  the  Forum  Boarium 
which  is  now  known  as  Santa  Maria  del  Sole.  Cf.  Huelsen,  Disserta- 
zioni  della  pont.  Accad.  romana  di  Archeologia,  Series  n.  1897,  pp. 
262  ff. 


CHAPTER  I 

Greek  and  Roman  Gods 

The  evidence  for  the  cults  of  Ostia  is  so  late  that  it  is 
useless  to  try  to  distinguish  between  Greek  and  Roman 
gods.  The  various  cults  have  therefore  been  taken  up  so 
far  as  possible  in  order  of  the  probable  date  of  their  estab- 
lishment and,  when  this  has  not  been  possible,  in  order  of 
importance. 

VULCAN 

Probably  the  oldest  cult  of  Ostia  was  that  of  Vulcan  whose 
temple  was  first  in  the  list  of  those  restored  by  P.  Lucilius 
Gamala.1     Compare   375,    1.    21.      [I]dem   aedem   Volcani 

1  Inscriptions  375  and  376  which  record  the  benefactions  of  P.  Lu- 
cilius Gamala  to  the  city  of  Ostia  have  given  rise  to  extended  discussion. 
375,  which  is  not  extant  but  rests  on  excellent  manuscript  authority, 
came  from  Portus.  The  provenance  of  376,  which  is  now  in  the  Vati- 
can, is  not  known.  The  latter  inscription  is  approximately  dated  by 
the  mention  of  a  restoration  by  Gamala  of  baths  constructed  by  divus 
Pius  (after  161).  The  differences  in  the  benefactions  recorded  and 
in  the  cursus  of  Gamala  as  given  in  the  two  inscriptions  are  as 
baffling  as  are  the  similarities,  and  have  led  to  various  explanations. 
The  most  recent  is  that  of  Carcopino:  Les  inscriptions  gamaliennes, 
Mel.  1911,  pp.  143-230,  cf.  bibliography  cited  p.  143.  Carcopino  takes 
the  view  held  originally  by  Mommsen  and  later  by  Homolle,  that  these 
inscriptions  refer  to  two  different  men.  The  later  view  of  Mommsen, 
which  agrees  with  the  opinion  of  Dessau,  is  that  the  two  refer  to  the 
same  man,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Hadrian,  Antoninus  Pius,  and 
Marcus  Aurelius.  Carcopino  thinks  that  the  first  Gamala  (375)  died 
in  the  reign  of  Claudius  (44  B.  c.)  and  the  second  (376)  under  Marcus 
Aurelius  (between  166  and  180).  Although  Carcopino's  dating  of 
375  in  44  b.  c.  is  not  altogether  convincing,  his  explanation  of  the 
two  inscriptions  has  much  in  its  favor.  In  the  following  pages  we 
shall  refer  to  375  as  the  inscription  of  the  first  Gamala,  and  to  376 
14 


GREEK    AND    ROMAN    GODS 


15 


sua  pecunia  restituit.  The  chief  evidence  for  the  cult  is 
found  in  the  titles,  peculiar  to  Ostia,  pontifex  Volcani  et 
aedium  sacrarum,2  praetor  3  and  aedilis  4  sacris  Volcani  faci- 
undis.  These  titles  occur  frequently  in  the  inscriptions  of 
Ostia,  sometimes  as  a  man's  only  title,  and  again  in  the 
cursus  of  an  important  member  of  the  community. 

The  pontifex  Volcani  et  aedium  sacrarum  was  the  chief 
religious  officer  of  Ostia.5  There  seems  to  have  been  no 
pontifical  college  in  the  colony.6  The  title  of  the  pontifex 
apparently  indicates  that  at  the  time  when  the  pontificate 
was  instituted  Vulcan  was  the  most  important  god  of  Ostia. 
This  pontifex  was  in  charge  of  all  the  temples  of  Ostia  and 
Portus ;  his  permission  seems  to  have  been  necessary  before 
statues  could  be  erected  in  sacred  precincts  or  gifts  of  impor- 
tance could  be  dedicated  in  sanctuaries.  Compare  47  which 
records  gifts  made  in  the   Sarapeum  of  Portus   and  ends 

as  that  of  the  second  Gamala.  It  may  be  well  to  quote  here  the 
portions  of  the  two  inscriptions  which  refer  to  the  temples  restored 
by  the  Gamalas:  375,  11.  21-33.  [i]dem  aedem  Volcani  sua  pecunia 
restituit.  [i]dem  aedem  Veneris  sua  pecunia  constituit.  [id] em  aed. 
Fortunae  sua  pecunia  constituit.  [id]em  aed.  Cereris  sua  pecunia 
constituit.  [id] em  pondera  ad  macellum  cum  M.  Turranio  sua  pecunia 
fecit,  [ideml  aedem  Spei  sua  pecunia  [cons]tituit.  376.  11.  13-22. 
idem  aedem  Castoris  et  Pollucis  rest,  idem  curator  pecuniae  publicae 
exigendae  et  attribuendae  in  comitiis  factus  cellam  patri  Tiberino 
restituit.  idem  thermas  quas  divus  Pius  aedif [i]caverat  vi  ignis  con- 
sumptas  refccit,  porticum  reparavit.  idem  aedem  Veneris  impensa 
sua   restituit. 

2  47,  72,  132,  324,  325,  352,  4145.  Differences  in  the  abbreviations 
and  spellings  of  these  and  the  following  titles  are  given  in  Dessau's 
lists,  C1L.  xiv    p.  573. 

8  3,  349,  390,  391,  402,  412,  415,  N8.  1911,  p.  286.  For  praetor  pri- 
mus, seciindits,  tertius,  see  below. 

*3,  351,  375,  376,  390,  391.  The  inscription  quoted  NS.  1910,  p.  107 
refers  either  to  an  aedile  or  to  a  praetor. 

B  Cf.  Dessau,  CIL.  xiv  p.  5. 

8  The  simple  title  pontifex  which  occurs  only  in  the  inscriptions  of 
the  two  Gamalas,  in  354,  and  in  4128  is  probably  identical  with  the 
longer  title. 


16  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

with  the  words:  Permissu  0.  Nasenni  Maroelli  pontificis 
Volcani  et  aedium  sacrarum  et  Q.  Lolli  Run  Chrysidiani 
et  M.  Aemili  Vitalis  Crepereiani  II.  vir(um).  324  records 
the  permission  of  the  pontifex  for  the  erection  of  a  statue 
in  the  Campus  Matris  Deum : 7  M.  Antius  Crescens  Cal- 
purnianus  pontif.  Volk.  et  aedium  sacrar.  statuam  poni  in 
campo  Matris  Deum  infantilem  permisi  (consular  date  203 
a.  d.).  352  refers  to  the  erection  of  a  statue  of  a  priest  of 
Isis,  probably  in  sacred  precincts,  as  is  indicated  by  the 
words :  locus  datus  a  Iulio  Faustino  pont.  Vulk.  aed.  sacrar. 
The  importance  of  the  office  pontifex  Volcani  et  aedium 
sacrarum  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  two  cases  it  is  held 
by  Romans  of  senatorial  rank  (324,  325  of  the  same  man, 
72). 

The  question  of  the  origin  and  duties  of  the  praetores  and 
aediles  sacris  Volcani  faciundis  presents  greater  difficulties. 
There  must  have  been  at  times  as  many  as  three  praetors, 
for  the  titles  praetor  primus  (306,  373,  432),  secundus 
(341),  tertius  (376),  apparently  referring  to  the  rank  of 
the  officers,  are  found.  One  occurrence  of  the  title  aedilis 
secundus  (EE.  ix  448)  proves  that  more  than  one  aedile 
existed.  In  three  cases  one  man  is  both  aedile  and  praetor.8 
The  fact  that  in  one  instance  a  boy  who  died  at  the  age  of 
four  years  was  pr(aetor)  pr(imus)  sacr(is)  VolJca(ni  faci- 
undis) 9  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  offices  were  sometimes 
honorary  during  the  Empire  at  least.  These  praetors  and 
aediles  were  frequently  men  of  prominence  in  the  colony, 
decuriones,10  holders  of  important  priesthoods,11  and,  in  two 
instances,  Roman  knights.12 

'Cf.   325. 

8  3,  376;   390  and  391  of  the  same  man. 

8  306.     Cf.  also  341  in  which  a  boy  of  twelve  years  is  praetor  secun- 
dus, and  is  also  a  decurion  and  a  Roman  knight. 
10  375,   376,   349,   412,   415.     N8.    1911,   p.   286. 
"373,   391.     NS.    1910,   p.    107. 
"341,  390  and  391. 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  17 

There  are  two  main  theories  as  to  the  origin  of  these 
praetors  and  aediles.  Henzen,13  who  is  followed  by  Be- 
loch  14  and  by  Paschetto,15  believed  that  they  were  the 
original  magistrates  of  the  colony  and  that,  after  they  were 
replaced  by  duumviri  and  aediles,  the  former  magistrates 
survived  and  were  connected  with  the  religious  rites  of 
Vulcan,  the  chief  god  of  the  city.  Mommsen,16  on  the  other 
hand,  held  the  theory  that  these  officers  were  from  the  first 
religious,  that  Ostia  had  no  independent  government  of  her 
own  for  a  long  time,  but  was  governed  directly  by  Rome, 
who  permitted  her  to  have  magistrates  ad  sacra.17 

Both  these  explanations  assume  that  the  magistrates  in 
question  performed  the  priestly  offices  of  the  colony  from  the 
earliest  times,  and  that  they  persisted  in  this  function  after 
the  duumviral  system  was  instituted  for  the  civil  magistrates. 
This  assumption  is  quite  impossible,  however,  if  Ostia  did 
not  become  a  colony  until  late  in  the  fourth  century  b.  c. 
If  one  remembers  that  the  praetorship  was  established  at 
Rome  in  366  purely  as  a  judicial  and  military  magistracy, 
one  can  hardly  believe  that  a  colony  of  Roman  citizens 
founded  afterwards,  so  near  Rome,  should  have  employed 
the  praetor's  title  for  the  priestly  office,  or  for  the  combined 
civil  and  sacred  magistracy.  Moreover,  it  is  probable  that 
the  duumviral  system  of  magistracies  existed  at  Ostia  from 
its  foundation  as  a  colony.18 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  find  some  explanation  for 
these  priesthoods  which  will  more  satisfactorily  fit  the  con- 
ditions that  we  now  believe  to  have  existed  in  the  region  in 
early  times. 

"Ann.  dell'Inst.   1859,  p.    197. 
14  Der  italische  Bund,  p.   114. 
1&Op.  cit.  p.   117. 

18  EE.  in.  p.  326;   Staatsrecht,  in.  p.  777. 

"  Dessau,  CIL.  xiv  p.  4,  and  Ruggiero  s.  v.  aedilis  p.  270,  state  both 
theories,  and  come  to  no  definite  conclusion  in  the  matter. 
18  See  introduction. 

2 


18  THE    CULTS    OF    OSTIA 

It  is  very  likely  that  Vulcan  was  the  chief  god  of  the 
small  village  which,  as  we  have  seen,  probably  existed  in 
this  neighborhood  prior  to  the  foundation  of  the  colony. 
This  village,  established  as  it  was  on  ager  Romanus,  could 
have  had  no  independent  municipal  organization;  yet  like 
every  pagus  or  vicus/9  it  must  have  centred  about  a  common 
cult.  The  suggestion  may  be  offered  that  the  praetors  and 
aediles  of  Vulcan  were  originally  officials  of  that  village, 
devoted  primarily  to  the  worship  of  Vulcan,  though  perhaps 
possessing  certain  supplementary  duties.  Parallels  may  be 
found  in  officials  of  other  pagi  and  vici.  The  aediles  of  the 
vicus  of  Furfo,  elective  officers  who  were  in  charge  of  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Liber,  had  command  of  the  sacred  funds, 
and  were  allowed  to  impose  certain  fines  at  will  and  to 
dispose  of  temple  property.20  A  reference  to  aedilitas  ad 
deam  Pelinam  in  a  pagus  near  Superaequum  (OIL.  ix  3314) 
is  significant  because  here,  as  at  Ostia,  the  name  of  the  god 
is  attached  to  the  title  of  the  officer  of  the  pagus.  The  usual 
officers  of  pagi  and  vici  were  magistri;  21  aediles  are  found 
occasionally,22  and  an  archaic  inscription  records  queistores 
(CIL.  ix  3849).  It  is  true  that  the  epigraphical  evidence, 
which  dates  chiefly  from  the  Empire,  contains  no  reference 
to  a  praetor  as  an  official  of  a  pagus  or  a  vicus.  But  many 
of  the  Latin  towns  had  praetors  as  chief  magistrates  in 
historical  times,  and  if,  as  seems  likely,  the  Latin  tribe 
lived  originally  according  to  the  village-community  system, 
several  of  these  towns  must  have  sprung  from  vici.  The 
use  of  the  title  praetor  for  the  chief  officer  of  a  small  village 
near  Rome  would  then  have  been  natural.23 

19  On  pagi  and  vici  cf.  A.  Schulten,  Die  Landgemeinden  im  romischen 
Reich,  Philol.  53,  pp.  629-686. 

20  CIL.  ix  3513.  In  Campania  during  the  first  century  B.  C.  the 
various  pagi  under  their  magistri  even  gave  games  under  the  care  of 
the  magistri  fani.     Cf.  CIL.  x  3772  ff. 

21  Cf.  Sclmlten,  I.  c.  pp.  641,  665. 

M  Cf.  s.  v.  aedilis.  Ruggiero,  p.  266. 

23  The   closest   parallel   to   these   officers   of  Ostia   is   to  be   found   in 


GEEEK   AND   BOMAN    GODS 


19 


After  the  establishment  of  the  colony  the  praetores  and 
aediles  sacris  Volcani  faciundis  probably  retained  their 
priestly  offices,  though  the  titles  were  sometimes  purely  hono- 
rary during  the  Empire.  The  pontifices  Volcani  et  aedium 
sacrarum  were  perhaps  instituted  only  after  the  colony  was 
founded. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  cult  of 
Vulcan  at  Ostia.  Wissowa  24  says,  "  In  Ostia  genoss  Vol- 
canus  eine  sehr  hohe  Verehrung,  weil  fur  die  Docks  und 
Speicher  der  Hafenstadt  die  Feuersgefahr  ganz  besonders  zu 
fiirchten  war."  But  there  are  no  dedications  which  prove 
that  the  god  was  so  worshiped  at  Ostia,  and,  furthermore, 
it  is  probable  that  his  cult  existed  before  any  docks  and 
granaries  were  constructed.  Carcopino  25  sees  in  the  worship 
"  un  culte  qui  plonge  par  de  profondes  racines  dans  le  plus 
lointain  passe  des  origines  latines,  un  culte  aussi  vieux,  aussi 
etendu,  aussi  venerable  que  celui  des  Penates  de  Lavinium, 
de  la  Diane  d'Aricie,  de  Juno  Sospita  a.  Lanuvium,  un  culte, 
enfin,  que  Rome  conquerante  evoqua  dans  les  murs  en  meme 
temps  qu'elle  le  maintenait  en  son  nom,  au  mieux  de  ses 
interets  et  de  son  prestige,  au  pays  dont  il  etait  originaire." 
Carcopino  is  doubtless  correct  in  his  view  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  worship  of  Vulcan.26     It  is  not  impossible  that  the 

the  praetor,  aediUs,  and  sacerdos  Etruriae,  mentioned  in  a  few  inscrip- 
tions of  the  Empire.  The  sacerdos  was  certainly  an  old  office,  but 
Bormann  (Archaol.  Epigr.  Mitth.  aus  Oesterreich-Ungarn,  1887,  pp. 
112  ff. )  advanced  the  theory  that  the  aediles  and  perhaps  the  praetors 
were  instituted  under  Augustus.  The  Etruscan  magistrates  seem  to 
have  officiated  at  a  festival  at  Volsinii.  Unfortunately  very  little  is 
known  of  the  magistrates.     Cf.  Ruggiero,  s.  v.  aedilis,  pp.  269-270. 

2*  Religion  und  Evltus  der  Rbmer,3  p.  230. 

™M6l.  1911,  p.   188. 

20  Carcopino's  most  recent  statement  is  less  convincing.  Cf.  Comptes 
Rendus,  1912,  p.  104  (report  of  the  meeting  of  the  Acadtmie  des  in- 
scriptions et  belles  lettres  of  April  12,  1912).  In  speaking  of  the  role 
of  Ostia  in  the  Aeneid,  Carcopino  stated  that  Lavinium  really  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  story  of  Aeneas;  it  was  the  city  of  the  Laurentes 


20  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

cult  was  connected  with  Ficana,27  a  city  at  the  eleventh  mile 
stone  of  the  Via  Ostiensis,  said  to  have  been  destroyed  by 
Ancus  Marcius  before  he  founded  Ostia.28 

During  the  Empire  the  cult  of  Vulcan  seems  to  have 
declined  in  importance.  Though  the  praetors,  aediles,  and 
pontifices  are  frequently  mentioned,29  we  hear  of  his  temple 
only  once.30  ~No  dedications  to  him  are  known,  unless  we 
are  to  identify  with  Vulcan  the  deus  patrius  31  of  3 :  Deo 
patrio  Cn.  Turpilius  Cn.  f.  Turpilianus  aedil.  et  pr.  sac. 
Volk.  fac.  sigill.  Volkani  ex  voto  posuit.  Arg(enti)  p(ondo) 
XV.  scr(i)p(tula)  IX.32 

and  of  Latinus.  The  city  founded  by  Aeneas  was  Troy,  which  was 
situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  the  site  later  occupied  by  Ostia. 
The  cult  which  was  connected  with  this  city  must,  he  thinks,  have 
been,  not  that  of  the  Penates  of  Lavinium,  but  that  of  Vulcan,  as 
later  worshiped  at  Ostia. 

27  Cf.  Livy  I.  33 ;  Cf.  also  the  title  magister  ad  Martem  Ficanum  in 
C1L.  xiv  309.     See  p.  43. 

28  The  view  of  Paschetto  ( op.  cit.  pp.  48  ff . )  that  the  importance  of 
Vulcan  at  Ostia  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  he  was  the  most 
important  god  of  Pome  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  colony 
can  hardly  be  proved. 

29  There  is  no  evidence  to  show  how  these  magistrates  were  elected. 
Carcopino  (M61.  1911,  p.  188)  believes  that  the  pontifex  was  chosen 
by  the  pontifex  maximus  of  Rome. 

30  The  frequent  mention  of  Vulcan  in  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia  led  to 
the  identification  of  the  large  temple  on  the  high  podium  as  that  of 
Vulcan — an  identification  which  Paschetto  is  as  yet  unwilling  to  relin- 
quish. It  is  however  to  be  noted  that  according  to  Vitruvius  I.  7,  1, 
the  temple  of  Vulcan  should  be  outside  the  city  walls — extra  murum 
Veneris  Volcani  Martis  ideo  fana  conlocari  .  .  .  Volcani  vi  e  moenibus 
religionibus  et  sacrificiis  evocata  ao  timore  incendiorum  aedificia  vide- 
antur  liberari.  Vaglieri  (NS.  1910,  p.  13)  believes  that  the  temple  of 
Vulcan  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  region  to  the  east  where  the  older 
city  probably  lay. 

31  Cf.  mention  of  deus  patrius  in  inscriptions  of  Puteoli,  Misenum,  and 
Cumae  (CIL.  x  1553,  1881,  3704),  which  Mommsen  refers  to  the  genius 
of  the  colony  of  Puteoli,  and  Dubois  (op.  cit.  p.  40,  n.  1)  connects  with 
the  genius  of  the  colony  of  Misenum.  The  genius  of  the  colony  of 
Ostia  may  be  referred  to  here. 

83  No  statues  of  Vulcan  have  been  found  at  Ostia.     A  bas-relief  from 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  21 


THE  CAPITOLINE  TRIAD 

Ostia,  like  many  other  Roman  colonies,  imitated  the 
mother  city  by  building  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Optimus  Maxi- 
mus,  Juno,  and  Minerva,  the  great  Etruscan  triad  who  were 
worshiped  on  the  Capitoline  Hill  in  Rome.  The  existence  of 
such  a  temple  in  Ostia  is  proved  by  the  inscription  (32)  : 
Pro  salutem  . . .  Aug.  ...  A.  Ostiensis  Asclepiades  aeditus 
Capitoli  1  signum  Martis  corpori  familiae  publice  liberto- 
rum  et  servorum  d.  d.  This  temple  was  probably  identical 
with  the  temple  of  Jupiter  which  Livy  (xxxn.  1,  10)  tells 
us  was  struck  by  lightning  in  199  b.  c.  One  dedication  to 
Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus  was  found  at  Ostia.  Compare 
23.  Iovi  optumo  maximo  ex  viso  aram  aediiicavit  P.  Cor- 
nelius P.  1.  Trupo  mesor.  prec(ario).2 

The  Capitolium  at  Ostia  is  probably  to  be  identified  with 
the  temple  whose  high  podium  renders  it  conspicuous  among 
the  ruins  of  the  city.3     This  temple  has  long  been  popu- 

there,  now  in  the  Vatican,  representing  Vulcan,  Ceres,  and  perhaps 
Neptune,  probably  had  no  relation  with  the  cult  of  Vulcan  at  Ostia. 
Cf.  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  p.   147. 

1  Paschetto's  doubts  (op.  cit.  pp.  148,  363)  as  to  whether  this  in- 
scription is  originally  from  Ostia  are  hardly  justified.  Dessau  notes 
that  the  name  Ostiensis  Asclepiades  is  mentioned  twice  in  the  album 
familiae  publicae  (no.  255).  Asclepiades  was  a  liberties  of  the  colony 
who  belonged  to  the  familia  publica  libertorum  et  servorum,  and  pre- 
sented a  statue  to  that  body.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Q.  Ostiensis  Felix 
(73),  another  freedman  of  the  colony,  was  aedituus  of  the  temple  of 
Roma   and   Augustus. 

8  Mommsen  included  this  inscription  in  Vol.  1  of  CIL.  (1109),  but  he 
says  of  it  there,  fortasse  rudis  potius  quam  antiqua. 

3  This  identification  is  favored  by  Nissen,  Rhein.  Mus.  1873,  p.  541; 
Kuhfeldt,  De  Capitoliis  imperii  Romani,  1882,  pp.  26-27,  Van  Buren, 
Amer.  Jour,  of  Arch.  1907,  pp.  55-56,  Carcopino,  MM.  1910,  p.  403. 
(Here  Carcopino  states  his  intention  to  publish  a  study  of  this  im- 
portant temple).  On  the  construction  of  the  temple  see  Borsari,  NS. 
1893,  pp.   191-193;   Paschetto,  op.  cit.  pp.  363-364. 


22  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

larly  known  as  '  tempio  di  Giove  '  or  '  tempio  di  Vulcano.' 
It  has  recently  been  pointed  out  by  Van  Buren  4  that  the 
long  base  at  the  rear  of  the  temple  was  apparently  intended 
for  three  cult  statues,  and  that  the  high  podium,  found  also 
in  the  Capitolia  of  Pompeii,  Timgad,  and  Lambaesis,  seems 
to  have  been  employed  in  places  where  the  Capitolium 
could  not  be  placed  on  a  hill  as  at  Kome.  Paschetto  5  notes 
that  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  Capitolium  was  not  the 
high  podium,  but  the  division  of  the  cella  into  three  parts, 
of  which  there  is  no  trace  in  the  temple  at  Ostia.  But  the 
curious  form  of  the  Capitolium  of  Lambaesis,  the  cella  of 
which  is  divided  into  two  parts,6  is  conclusive  proof  that 
there  was  no  definitely  established  form  for  the  Capitolium. 


CASTOR   AND   POLLUX 

The  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  was  restored  by  the 
second  P.  Lucilius  Gamala:  37613  idem  aedem  Castoris  et 
Pollucis  rest.  An  hexameter  inscription  set  up  by  Catius 
Sabinus  records  the  dedication  in  front  of  this  temple  of 
a  relief  or  a  painting  representing  games  which  had  been 
held  in  honor  of  Neptune  and  Castor  and  Pollux: 

1.    Litoribus  vestris  quoniam  certamin[a]   laetum 
Exhibuisse  iuvat,  Castor  venerandeque  Pollux, 
Munere  pro  tanto  faciem  certaminis  ipsam, 
Magna  Iovis  proles,  vestra  pro  sede  locavi 
Urbanis  Catius  gaudens  me  fascibus  auctum 
Neptunoque  patri  ludos  fecisse  Sabinus. 

Catius  Sabinus  was  consul  II  ordinarius  in  216  a.  d.     He 
celebrated  these  games  as  urban  praetor   (urbanis  fascibus 

*L.  c. 

"  Op.  cit.  p.  363  and  n.  3. 

'Cf.  Gsell,  Monuments  antiques  de  VAlgirie,  I.  p.  144. 


GREEK  AND  SOMAN  GODS  23 

auctum),  an  office  which  he  is  known  to  have  held  from 
CIL.  vi  864.1 

There  is  also  literary  evidence  for  this  festival  of  Castor 
and  Pollux  at  Ostia.2  In  the  Fasti  Silvii  for  January 
27th — and  it  is  significant  that  this  is  the  dedication  day 
of  the  famous  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  in  the  Roman 
Forum  3 — are  the  words :  ludi  Castorum  Ostiis  quae  prima 
facta  colonia  est.4  The  games  are  not  mentioned  in  any 
other  calendar,  though  it  is  probable  that  they  would  have 
been  given  in  the  Fasti  Philocali  if  the  scribe  had  not  neg- 
lected to  fill  in  the  data  for  the  last  days  of  January.5 
More  definite  information  is  supplied  by  the  Cosmographia 
Iulii  Caesaris:®  [Tiberis]  in  duobus  ex  uno  effectus  insulam 
facit  inter  portum  urbis  et  Ostiam  civitatem,  ubi  populus 
Romanus  cum  urbis  praefecto  vet  consule  Castorum  cele- 
brandorum  causa  egreditur  sollemnitate  iucunda.7  We  have 
seen  that  on  one  occasion  the  urban  praetor  Catius  Sabinus 
was  in  charge  of  these  games.  It  is  therefore  probable  that 
in  the  Cosmographia  consul  is  a  mistake  for  praetor,  and 
that  the  games  were  regularly  directed  by  the  urban  praetor 
until  the  late  Empire  when  the  city  prefect  took  charge  of 
them. 

But  it  was  not  only  on  the  occasion  of  these  annual  games 
that  honor  was  paid  to  Castor  and  Pollux  at  Ostia.     Ammi- 

1  Cf.  Dessau  on  CIL.  xiv  1 ;  Albert,  Le  Culte  de  Castor  et  Pollux  en 
Italie,  Paris,  1883,  p.  45,  wished  to  identify  the  large  temple  on  the 
high  podium  as  that  of  Castor  and  Pollux.  He  thought  its  size  and 
prominent  position  in  favor  of  the  identification. 

*  This  inscription  is  the  only  evidence  that  Neptune  shared  with 
Castor  and  Pollux  in  this  festival. 

8  Ovid,  Fasti,  I.  706.  Cf.  Fasti  Praenestini  for  Jan.  27,  CIL.  1 2  p.  232: 
ae[dis  Castoris  et  Po]llucis  dedieafta  est. 

*  CIL.  i '  p.  257,  308. 
'Ibid.  p.  308. 

'Often  quoted  as  Aethicus.     Riese,  Geographi  Latini  Minores,  p.  83. 
1  This  statement  seems  to  mean  that  the  games  were  celebrated  at 
Ostia  rather  than  on  the  island. 


24  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

anus  Marcellimis  xix.  10  tells  of  a  sacrifice  made  in  their 
temple  by  Tertullus,  the  city  prefect,  in  the  year  359,  when 
storms  had  prevented  the  grain-ships  from  entering  the  port 
and  Rome  was  threatened  with  famine :  dum  Tertullus  apud 
Ostia  in  aede  sacrificat  Castorum,  tranquillitas  mare  molluit, 
mutatoque  in  austrum  placidum  vento,  velificatione  plena 
portum  naves  ingressae  frumentis  horrea  referserunt.  Such 
sacrifices  were  probably  not  infrequent  and  seem  to  have  con- 
tinued until  a  very  late  period.  Perhaps  Pope  Gelasius  was 
referring  to  similar  sacrifices  within  his  own  memory  when 
he  said:  Castores  vestri  certe  a  quorum  cultu  desistere  nolu- 
istis  cur  vobis  opportuna  maria  minime  praebuerunt?  8  It 
is  not  improbable  that  it  was  for  such  a  sacrifice  that  Clau- 
dius went  to  Ostia  in  48.  Tacitus  says  that  he  went  sacri- 
fhcii  gratia?  while  Cassius  Dio  explains  his  purpose  as 
7r/3o?  ijrio-Keyjriv  citoi/.10  This  combined  evidence  suggests 
that  he  may  have  gone  to  Ostia  in  circumstances  similar  to 
those  of  the  year  359.  However,  since  it  is  known  that 
Claudius  remained  at  Ostia  for  some  time  on  this  occasion, 
it  is  quite  possible  that  his  long  stay  and  his  sacrifices  were 
connected  with  the  new  port  which  was  then  in  process  of 
construction.11 

It  is  apparent  from  the  evidence  quoted  that  the  games 
in  honor  of  Castor  and  Pollux  at  Ostia  were  not  a  local  cele- 
bration, but  were  under  official  direction  from  Rome. 
Furthermore,  it  is  clear  that  their  temple  was  at  times  the 
scene  of  sacrifices  directed  by  important  Roman  dignitaries. 
Even  if  the  fact  that  the  games  were  celebrated  at  the  port 
is  not  enough  to  reveal  the  nature  of  the  worship,  the 
circumstances  of  the  sacrifice  described  by  Ammianus 
Marcellinus  make  it  clear  that  Castor  and  Pollux  were  here 

8  Thiel,  Epist.  Pontif.  Rom.  i.  p.  603,  quoted  by  Wissowa,  Religion  und 
Kultus,2  p.  271,  n.   1.     Gelasius  was  pope  492-496. 
"Ann.  xi.  26.     Cf.  Furneaux's  note  ad  loc. 
"Cassius  Dio,  ix.  31. 
11  Cf.  Dessau,  CIL.  xrv  p.  9. 


GREEK   AND   BOM  AN    GODS  25 

worshiped  as  gods  who  had  power  to  calm  the  winds  and 
allay  storms  at  sea.  Such  a  conception  of  the  Dioskuri  is 
familiar  in  Greek  literature  where  the  twin  gods  often 
appear  as  the  special  protectors  of  mariners.12  Similar 
passages  in  Roman  literature  seem  to  be  a  reflection  of  Greek 
rather  than  of  Roman  feeling.13 

In  the  cult  of  Castor  and  Pollux  at  Rome  where  these 
gods  were  primarily  the  patrons  of  the  knights,  they  were 
never,  so  far  as  we  know,  worshiped  as  gods  of  the  sea. 
Throughout  the  Empire  dedications  to  them  are  rare ;  14  not 
once  are  they  addressed  as  gods  who  calmed  storms  or  res- 
cued mariners.15  They  are  not  known  to  have  had  a  temple 
in  any  other  port  town.16  It  is  true  that  their  statues  seem 
to  have  stood  in  prominent  places  in  the  harbors  of  An- 

"  Cf.  passages  cited  by  K.  Jaisle,  Die  Dioskuren  als  Retter  zur  See 
bei  Griechen  und  Romern  und  ihr  Fortleben  in  christlichen  Legenden. 
Dissertation,  Tubingen,  1907,  pp.  6  ff. 

a  Cf.  passages  cited  by  Jaisle,  op.  cit.  pp.  27  ff.  One  may  well  hesi- 
tate to  be  as  positive  as  Jaisle  in  explaining  all  these  passages  as 
representing  Greek  beliefs.  To  be  sure  the  invocations  of  the  Dioskuri 
in  the  propempticon  of  Horace  C.  1.  3,  in  Prop.  1.  17,  15  ff.  etc.  are 
most  probably  based  upon  Greek  precedent.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
Horace  in  C.  1.  12 — a  poem  permeated  with  Roman  sentiment — dwells 
upon  the  services  of  the  sons  of  Leda  as  rescuers  of  the  Roman  ship 
of  state  (cf.  Kiessling-Heinze  ad  loc,  Hiemer,  Rheinisches  Mus.  1907, 
p.  240),  it  seems  probable  that  he  is  using  a  mode  of  speech  that 
would  awaken  associations  with  Roman  rather  than  Greek  worship. 
Nor  is  there  anything  unreasonable  in  supposing  that  Catullus  C.  4 
dedicated  the  pinnace  to  Castor  and  Pollux  according  to  Roman  pre- 
cedent. The  worship  at  Ostia,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  state  cult  and 
could  hardly  have  escaped  the  notice  of  these  poets.  Inscriptions  may 
yet  be  found  to  prove  that  the  Roman  cult  of  the  Dioskuri  as  sea-gods 
was  not  confined  to  Ostia. 

"Cf.  Vaglieri  s.  v.  Castores,  Ruggiero. 

15  The  Greek  hexameter  inscription  of  the  third  century  from  Mar- 
seilles, 10.  xiv  2461  (quoted  by  Jaisle,  op.  cit.  p.  15),  in  which  the 
Dioskuri  are  referred  to  as  irXwr-^pwc  awTypes  'AfivicXaToi  Qeol  is  thoroughly 
representative  of  the  Greek  conception  of  the  gods. 

38  Unimportant  dedications  were  found  at  Vibo,  CIL.  x  38,  and  at 
Chullu  in  Numidia,  CIL.  nil  8193. 


26  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

cona 17  and  Puteoli.18  This  indicates,  however,  an  imita- 
tion of  the  Greek  custom  of  adorning  ports  with  their 
statues,19  rather  than  a  special  cult  of  the  Dioskuri  at  these 
places. 

Therefore  the  worship  of  Castor  and  Pollux  at  Ostia  seems 
to  stand  alone  in  the  Roman  cult  of  these  gods  as  the  only 
reflection  of  one  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  their  wor- 
ship among  the  Greeks.  But  it  is  significant  that  the  cult 
at  Ostia  was  fostered  by  the  Roman  state  and  apparently 
not  by  individuals.  The  merchants  and  sailors,  although 
they  constituted  a  large  part  of  the  population  of  Ostia,  made 
no  dedications  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  so  far  as  we  know. 
Not  one  of  the  numerous  inscriptions  for  the  welfare  of  the 
emperors  is  addressed  to  these  deities.  Not  a  priest  of 
Castor  and  Pollux  is  known  from  Ostia. 

We  have  no  means  of  determining  when  the  worship  was 
established  at  Ostia.  The  Romans  took  their  cult  of  Castor 
and  Pollux  from  Tusculum,  where  the  powers  of  the  gods 
over  the  sea  were  probably  disregarded.  In  the  cult  as 
known  in  Southern  Italy,  however,  particularly  at  Taren- 
tum,  Locri,  and  Rhegium,  the  Dioskuri  must  have  been 
worshiped  as  gods  of  the  sea.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
worship  was  introduced  at  Ostia  from  Southern  Italy  when 
Ostia  first  became  a  port  of  importance,  about  the  third 
century  b.  c. 


17  In  the  view  of  the  harbor  of  Ancona  on  the  column  of  Trajan 
statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  stand  on  an  arch.  Cf.  Cichorius,  Die 
Reliefs  der  Trajansaule,  Vol.  in.  p.  18,  Taf.  lvui;  Strong,  Roman 
Sculpture,  PI.  lvi. 

18  In  the  representation  of  the  port  of  Puteoli  on  the  vase  of  Odemira 
the  two  figures  standing  on  high  columns  are  almost  certainly  Castor 
and  Pollux.     Cf.  Dubois,  op.  cit.  Fig.  7,  pp.  198  f. 

19  Cf.  Bethe  s.  v.  Dioskuri,  Pauly-Wissowa,  col.  1096.  Similarly  a 
statue  of  Neptune  stood  in  the  port  of  Claudius,  though  there  is  no 
evidence  for  the  cult  of  Neptune  at  Ostia  or  at  Portus. 


GREEK    AND   ROMAN    GODS  27 


LIBER    PATER 

At  Ostia  Liber  Pater  is  represented  only  by  a  dedication 
found  in  the  Casino  del  Sale:  EE.  vn  1195.  Sacrum 
Liber [o  Patri  ?]  C.  Nasennius  Hi[larus]  sua  [pejcunia 
fec[it  ob]  mer[ita  in]  Ulpianum  f[il  e]t  ob  m  memoria[m 
fi]li  sui. 

At  Portus,  however,  his  cult  was  very  important  in  the 
time  of  Commodus  and  later.  His  temple  is  probably  to 
be  identified  with  a  small  round  Corinthian  structure  un- 
covered just  to  the  north  of  the  Casino  Torlonia.1  Nothing 
remains  of  it  today.  The  basis  for  this  identification  is  the 
inscription  (30),  found  in  or  near  the  ruins  of  the  temple: 
Pro  salute  imp.  M.  Aureli  Commodi  Antonini  Aug.  Pii 
Felicis  Libero  Patri  Commodiano  sacrum  Iunia  Marciane 
ex  voto  fecit. 

Three  other  dedications  to  the  god  were  found  at  Portus: 
27.  Libero  Patr[i  .  .  .]  sacrum  Chryse  ...  28.  Cn. 
Maelius  Epictetus  Liberum  Patrem  in  aria  sua  consacravit. 
29.    Cn.  Maelius  Philetus  Iun.  aram  Libero  Patri  d.  d. 

Priests  and  a  priestess  of  the  god  are  known  from  the 
inscription  from  Portus  (IG.  xiv  925)  :  'Ayvrjs  evaefivoLO 
(TTreip-qs  Tpaiavrjcricov  oiSe,  lepels  lepeid  tc  Oeov  /xeyaXov  Auovv- 
aov  A.  SovAAto?  AecovtSrj'i  Ka\  (vacat)  icai  '\ov\ia  'Vovdyelva 
iirl   TrapaaraTTj   ^ckovvSq).2 

1Cf.  Lanciani,  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1868,  p.  181.  "  Anche  il  tempio  di  Bacco 
6  stato  rinvenuto  nei  recenti  scavi  al  N.  del  casino  Torlonia,  la  dove 
vedemmo  avere  esistito  i  magazzini  vinarii.  Esso  apparve  rotondo, 
perittero  corinzio,  rilevato  su  d'un  alto  stilobate  e  risarcito  in  periodo 
di  massima  decadenza.  In  un  frammento  dell'architrave  curvilineo  era 
scritto  a  pessimi  caratteri:  Aur.  Rutilius  Caecilia[nus."  (CIL.  xiv 
6G6.)  The  location  of  the  temple  is  indicated  on  Lanciani's  plan  of 
the  harbor  of  Trajan,  Mon.  dell'Inst.  vni.  PI.  xlix.  Cf.  Altmann,  Die 
italischen  Rundbauten,  p.  69. 

3  Inscr.  Or.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  I  385;  cf.  CIL.  xiv  4.  It  is  not 
known  where  this  inscription  was  found,  but  the  fact  that  it  is  in  the 


28  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Another  priest  of  Liber  Pater,  mentioned  in  an  inscription 
from  Portus,  is  believed  by  Carcopino  to  have  been  connected 
with  a  shrine  of  the  god  in  Rome.  Compare  Mel.  1909,  p. 
342.  S]il[va]n[o]  sa[cr.]  P.  Luscius  R  .  .  .  lanus  sacer- 
dos  Dei  Liberis  (sic)  Patris  Bonadiensium  Silbano  sancto 
cui  magnas  gratias  ago  conducto  aucupiorum.  Carcopino  3 
compares  with  Bonadienses,  which  is  an  cmcd;  \e<yop,evov,  the 
similar  forms  Epictetinses,  Tellurenses,  Orflenses,  Caelimon- 
tiemes,  etc.,  used  in  inscriptions  of  Rome,  with  reference  to 
the  inhabitants  of  vici  in  the  city.4  Bonadienses  are,  he 
believes,  inhabitants  of  a  vicus  which  took  its  name  from  a 
shrine  or  statue  of  Bona  Dea  within  its  limits,  and  Luscius 
was  the  priest  of  a  shrine  of  Liber  Pater  in  that  vicus.  Since 
the  organization  of  vici  is  attested  only  by  one  inscription 
from  Ostia  which  gives  the  names  of  magistri  vicorum  (EE. 
ix  470),  and  since  the  cult  of  Bona  Dea  is  unknown  at  Ostia 
and  Portus,  Carcopino  thinks  that  this  vicus  was  more  pro- 
bably at  Rome  than  at  Portus.  Luscius,  he  believes,  came 
to  Portus  because  of  the  hunting,5  and,  after  he  was  suc- 
cessful, recorded  his  thanks  to  Silvanus,  possibly  in  the 
temple  of  Liber  Pater  at  Portus. 

The  argument  of  Carcopino  is  by  no  means  convincing. 
There  is  evidence,  not  mentioned  by  him,  supporting  the 
natural  inference  that  Portus,  as  well  as  Ostia,  was  organized 
into  vici.  Two  inscriptions,  referring  to  a  awelpa  Tpaiavrjaicov 
(IG.  xiv  925),  Iub.  Traianensium  (4),  prove  the  existence 
of  Traianenses  in  the  port.  It  is  significant  that  Traianenses 
are  also  mentioned  in  the  same  fragmentary  inscriptions  of 
the  city-prefect  Bassus  in  which  Epictetinses,  Tellurenses, 
etc.,  are  named ;  they  were  the  inhabitants  of  a  vicus  of  Rome 

Villa  Albani  makes  it  seein  probable  that  it  came  from  excavations 
of  the   Torlonias. 

"L.  c.   pp.   343-348. 

4Cf.  the  inscription  of  the  city-prefect  Bassus,  GIL.  vi  31893,  31894, 
31899. 

6  See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  29 

which  was  perhaps  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Baths  of 
Trajan.6  Similarly,  in  the  inscriptions  of  Portus,  the  Tra- 
ianenses  were  probably  the  inhabitants  of  a  vicus  near  the 
port  of  Trajan.  Since  magistri  vicorum  are  already  known 
from  Ostia,  the  division  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  port  into 
vici  can  hardly  be  doubted.  Moreover  the  absence  of  evi- 
dence for  the  cult  of  Bona  Dea  at  Ostia  and  Portus  need  not 
deter  us  from  believing  that  a  statue  or  a  shrine  of  that 
goddess  existed  there  and  gave  a  name  to  a  vicus.  In  Rome, 
where  excavations  have  been  far  more  complete  than  in 
Portus,  it  is  not  possible  to  explain  the  origin  of  all  the 
names  of  vici.  Therefore  it  is  not  improbable  that  Luscius 
was  a  priest  of  the  temple  of  Liber  Pater  at  Portus,  and 
that  the  temple  of  the  god  was  in  a  vicus  of  the  city,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  were  called  Bonadienses. 

A  religious  association  known  as  a  spira  Traianensium 
was  connected  with  the  cult  of  Liber  Pater  at  Portus,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  Greek  inscription  quoted  above.  The  irapaard<; 
there  mentioned  is  perhaps  a  magistrate  of  the  body.  Many 
such  associations,  called  spirae  or  thiasi,  were  formed  during 
the  Empire.7  At  Puteoli  there  was  a  tKiasus  Placidianus,8 
with  which  a  parastata  °  seems  to  have  been  connected.  The 
association  at  Portus,  like  one  of  the  spirae  at  Rome,  appar- 
ently worshiped  Diana  as  well  as  Liber  Pater.10  Compare 
4  (also  found  in  the  excavations  of  the  Prince  Torlonia)  : 
Diana  Tobens.  Iub.11  Traianensium. 

A  statue  of  Liber  Pater  stood  in  a  prominent  place  in  the 
port  of  Claudius,  if  the  bas-relief  of  the  Museo  Torlonia 

8  Cf.  Richter,  Topographie  der  Stadt  Rom,  p.  328. 

'  Cf.  Wissowa  8.  v.  Liber,  Roscher. 

*CIL.  X  1583-1585;  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  134. 

•  CIL.  x  1584. 

10  CIL.  vi  261. 

"Mommsen  (quoted  by  Dessau)  conjectured  tub(icen).  The  con- 
nection of  the  inscription  with  the  spira  does  not  seem  absolutely 
certain. 


30  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

faithfully  pictures  that  harbor.  The  bas-relief  shows,  on  the 
right,  a  high  pedestal  upon  which  stands  a  nude  statue  of 
Dionysus  of  a  familiar  Hellenistic  type.12  The  god  is 
crowned  with  the  vine  and  holds  the  thyrsus  and  a  wine  vessel. 
Beside  him  is  a  panther.  Another  Dionysus  of  exactly  the 
same  type  is  represented  on  the  prow  of  the  larger  boat  in 
the  foreground  of  the  bas-relief,  while  a  head  of  the  same 
god  adorns  the  prow  of  the  smaller  boat.  Guglielmotti,  ex- 
plaining the  enigmatical  letters  on  the  sail  of  the  larger  boat 
as  V(otum)  L(ibero)  (2033),  believed  that  the  bas-relief  was 
a  dedication  to  Liber  Pater.  The  suggestion,  though  tempt- 
ing, lacks  support. 

A  statue  of  Liber  was  destroyed  in  Portus  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  According  to  Volpi  (Vetus  Latium,  xi.  c.  2)  :  hanc 
statuam  Bessarion  Trapezuntius  cardinalis  Mcaenus,  cum  sui 
iuris  fecisset,  profani  cultus  impietatem  detestatus  in  mare 
demergi  iussit. 

The  cult  of  Liber  Pater  was  evidently  very  prominent  at 
Portus  in  the  time  of  Commodus,  for  in  the  pro  salute  in- 
scription to  that  emperor  Liber  Pater  bears  the  epithet  Com- 
modianus  which  is  given  elsewhere  only  to  the  emperor's 
favorite  Hercules.13  We  may  infer  from  the  statue  figured 
on  the  bas-relief  of  the  Museo  Torlonia,  which  dates  from  the 
time  of  the  Severi,  that  the  cult  remained  important  during 
the  years  following  the  reign  of  Commodus.  Indeed  we 
should  expect  the  cult  of  Liber  Pater  to  receive  special 
support  from  Septimius  Severus  who  built  at  Rome  a  great 
temple  to  Hercules  and  Liber,14  the  gods  of  his  native  Leptis, 

"  Carcopino,  I.  c.  p.  349,  disregarding  the  evidence  for  the  identification 
of  the  temple  of  Liber  discussed  above,  sees  in  the  position  of  the  statue 
of  the  god  in  the  bas-relief  an  indication  of  the  location  of  his  temple. 
The  statue  seems  to  be  represented  as  standing  on  the  east  mole  of  the 
Claudian  harbor  which,  it  is  now  agreed,  passed  over  the  summit  of 
Monte  Giulio.  Cf.  Carcopino,  NS.  1907,  p.  736.  The  dedication  to 
Silvanus  by  Luscius  was  found  on  Monte  Giulio. 

13  Cf.  s.  v.  Commodus,  Ruggiero. 

14  Cf.  Cassius  Dio,  lxxvi.  16,  3. 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  31 

and  had  representations  of  them  with  the  inscriptions  Dis 
Auspicibus,  Dis  Patriis,  struck  on  his  coins.15 

Wissowa  1G  has  shown  that  Liber  as  worshiped  at  Portus 
was  probably  an  orgiastic  Oriental  god  who  appropriated  the 
name  of  the  established  Roman  deity.  The  cult  of  this  god 
was  prominent  also  at  Rome  and  Puteoli.  With  it  were 
associated  spirae  and  thiasi  which  celebrated  mysteries  of  the 
god,  perhaps  not  unlike  those  suppressed  in  186  b.  c.  The 
importance  of  this  cult  in  Roman  ports  and  the  use  of  Greek 
in  inscriptions  of  these  spirae  are  further  evidence  for  the 
foreign  origin  of  the  worship. 


VENUS,    FORTUNA,    CERES,    SPES 

The  first  P.  Lucilius  Gamala,  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
restored  (restituit)  the  temple  of  Vulcan,  also  built  (con- 
stituit)  temples  of  Venus,  Fortuna,  Ceres,  and  Spes.1  The 
temple  of  Venus  was  restored  by  the  second  Gamala  (the 
word  restituit  is  used).  There  is  very  little  other  evidence 
for  these  four  cults  from  Ostia — none  at  all,  indeed,  for  that 
of  Spes. 

Other  dedications  to  Fortuna  from  Ostia  seem  to  have  no 
connection  with  the  temple  of  the  goddess.  She  is  grouped 
with  a  number  of  other  deities,  among  them,  Invictus  deus 
Sol,  in  a  dedication  discovered  recently.2  From  Portus 
comes    the   inscription    (6)  :    Fortunae    domesticae    sanctae 

15  Cf.  R.  Peter  8.  v.  Hercules,  Roscher,  1.  col.  2092-2993;  Cohen, 
Mtdailles   Impcriales,2    Septimius    Severus,    112-122. 

10  L.  c.  Cf.  also  Religion  und  Kultus,2  p.  303;  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  137; 
Mel.  1902,  p.  27.  Dubois  attempts  to  date  the  revival  of  these  Diony- 
siac  mysteries  at  Portus  from  the  term  Traianenses,  which  he  thinks 
indicates  that  the  inscriptions  are  of  the  time  of  Trajan. 

1375,  376.     See  p.  14,  a.  1. 

■Ell.  ix.  440.     Quoted  p.  92. 


32  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

ara  pro  salute  et  reditu  L.  Septinii  Severi  Pertinacis  Aug. 
[et  D.  Clodi]  Septi[mi  Albini  Caesaris]  L.  Valerius  Fronti- 
nus  o  coh.  II.  vigil,  sua  pecunia  posuit  cum  suis  etc.  In 
the  latrina  of  the  barracks  of  the  vigiles  a  small  shrine  of 
Fortuna  Sancta  was  discovered.  On  a  marble  cippus  which 
was  affixed  to  the  pavement  of  the  room  was  the  inscription 
(NS.  1911,  p.  209) :  C.  Valerius  Myron  b(ene)f  (iciarius) 
pr(aefecti)  coh(ortis)  III.  vig(ilum)  Fortunae  Sanctae  v.  s. 

1.  a.  Here  too  on  an  aedicula  which  was  affixed  to  the  wall 
was  found  the  inscription  (ibid.  p.  210),  Fortunae  sanct. 
Vaglieri  has  noted  that  this  discovery  proves  that  a  pas- 
sage in  Clement  of  Alexandria  is  to  be  taken  literally. 
(Protrept.  iv.  51).3 

Ceres,  who  was  naturally  looked  to  as  the  protectress  of 
the  grain  industry,  was  worshiped  by  several  of  the  collegia. 
The  measurers  of  grain  were  called  mensores  frumentarii 
Cereris  Aug.  (409).  Quinquennales  of  three  related  col- 
leges dedicated  a  marble  well-head  to  Ceres  and  the  Nymphs : 

2.  Monitu  sanctissimae  Cereris  et  Nympharum  hie  puteus 
factus  omni  sumptu.  C.  Caecili  Onesimi  patro.  et  qq. 
p(er)p(etui)  c(orporis)  m(ensorum)  adiutor.  et  L.  Hor- 
tensi  Galli  qq.  nauticariorum  et  1ST.  Treboni  Eutychetis  qq. 
II.  acceptorum.  (consular  date  197  a.  d.).  Lanciani 4 
suggested  that,  since  the  Forum  seems  to  have  been  sur- 
rounded with  the  offices  of  corporations  devoted  to  the  grain 
industry,  the  temple  in  the  centre  of  the  Forum  may  have 

s  Three  statues  of  Fortuna  have  been  found  at  Ostia.  One,  discovered 
by  Fagan  near  the  Torre  Bovacciana,  is  now  in  the  Vatican.  Cf.  Ame- 
lung,  Sc.  des  Vat.  Mus.  Vol.  I.  p.  101,  Braccio  Nuovo  86.  For  the 
second  cf.  NS.  1888,  p.  739  and  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  p.  153,  Fig.  26. 
Another  statue  is  cited  p.  152.  On  one  of  the  walls  in  the  so-called 
headquarters  of  mensores  near  the  large  temple  is  a  small  aedicula  in 
which  there  is  a  representation  of  Fortuna,  who  was  doubtless  looked 
to  as  the  protectress  of  the  grain  merchants.  Cf.  Paschetto,  op.  cit. 
p.  316,  Fig.  77;  Carcopino,  MM.  1910,  p.  426. 

*  NS.  1881,  p.  114.  Excavations  now  in  progress  at  this  temple  may 
settle  its  identity. 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  33 

been  that  of  Ceres.  There  seems,  however,  little  ground 
for  the  identification.5 

Inscriptions  record  the  dedication  of  a  statue  of  Venus 
to  Isis  and  Bubastis  (21  add.),  and  the  erection  of  a  statue 
of  the  goddess  on  the  sarcophagus  of  a  young  girl,  Arria 
Maximina  (610).  Several  statues  of  Venus  have  been  found 
at  Ostia,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  beautiful 
Townley  Venus  of  the  British  Museum.6 

But  there  is  evidence  for  the  identification  of  the  temple 
of  Venus  which  the  first  Gamala  constituit  and  the  second 
restituit.  A  marble  altar  bearing  the  inscription  (4127) 
Veneri  sacrum  was  found  in  a  small  temple  near  the  theatre. 
This  temple  is  on  the  same  base  with  three  other  temples 
of  almost  equal  size.7  Van  Buren 8  and,  more  recently, 
Carcopino  9  have  suggested  that  these  three  shrines  are  to  be 
identified  as  those  of  Fortuna,  Ceres,  and  Spes  which  are 
mentioned  in  the  same  terms  as  the  temple  of  Venus  in  the 
inscription  of  the  first  P.  Lucilius  Gamala.  Van  Buren, 
who  follows  Mommsen  in  believing  that  375  and  376  refer 
to  one  man  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Hadrian,  thinks  that 
constituit  of  375  is  equivalent  to  restituit  of  376.  From 
the  style  of  the  construction  of  the  temples  he  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  were  built  in  the  first  century  b.  c. 
and  restored  in  the  second  century  after  Christ.  Carco- 
pino, who  dates  the  Gamala  of  375  in  the  first  century 
after  Christ  and  the  Gamala  of  376  in  the  second  century, 
would  distinguish  between  constituit  and  restituit  in  the 
two  inscriptions;  he  believes  that  the  temples  were  built 
by  one  man  and  restored  by  the  other.     To  his  mind  the 

6  CIL.  xiv  4146  can  hardly  be  related  to  the  cult  of  Ceres. 

6  Found  by  Gavin  Hamilton  in  1775.  Cf.  Jour,  of  Hellenic  Studies, 
xxr.  p.  316;  A.  H.  Smith,  Catalogue  of  Sculpture  in  British  Museum, 
Vol.  in.   no.   1574. 

'A7-Sf.  1886,  pp.  127  and  164;  Rom.  Mitth.  i.  p.  194. 

8  Amcr.  Jour,  of  Arch.  1907,  pp.  55-56. 

»M4l.    1911,   pp.  224-230. 

3 


34  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

style  of  the  construction  is  in  accord  with  the  view  that 
the  temples  were  built  in  the  time  of  Augustus  and  re- 
stored under  Hadrian.  He  notes  that  the  temples  adjoined 
a  private  house,  which,  he  suggests,  may  have  belonged  to 
Gamala.  Since  the  publication  of  Carcopino's  article,  ex- 
cavations have  laid  bare  a  tufa  foundation  of  republican  date 
under  these  temples.10  This  discovery  supports  Van  Buren's 
dating  rather  than  Carcopino's.  Carcopino's  suggestion, 
however,  that  the  house  may  have  belonged  to  Gamala  is 
favored  by  a  fragmentary  inscription  found  behind  the 
temples:  Paren  .  .  .  Lucil[i]us  G[ama]la  filius  .  .  .  f . 

This  identification  does  not  seem  improbable.  The  cults 
of  Venus,  Fortuna,  Ceres,  and  Spes  were  not  prominent  in 
the  colony,  and  the  four  temples  could  not  have  been  dedi- 
cated to  any  of  the  more  important  gods  of  Ostia.  Yet  if 
these  shrines  are  referred  to  in  375,  it  is  strange  that  the 
list  of  temples  is  interrupted  by  the  statement  that  Gamala 
fecit  pondera  ad  macellum.  The  excavations  at  the  temples 
are  being  continued,  and  further  evidence  for  their  identifi- 
cation may  be  forthcoming. 


PATEK    TIBEEINUS 

It  is  fitting  that  there  should  have  been  a  shrine  of  Father 
Tiber  at  the  river's  mouth  where  the  god  appeared  to  Aeneas 
and  foretold  the  greatness  of  Rome.1  The  sanctuary  is  men- 
tioned in  the  inscription  of  the  second  Gamala:  376,  11. 
14-17.  Idem  curator  pecuniae  publicae  exigendae  et  attri- 
buendae  in  comitiis  factus  cellani  Patri  Tiberino  restituit. 
Gamala  restored  this  shrine  not  at  his  own  expense,  but 

10  NS.  1911,  pp.  198-199.  Carcopino  published  some  additional  notes 
regarding-  these  discoveries  in  Mel.  1911,  p.  368. 

1Aen.  vm.  11.  31  ff.  Cf.  Carcopino,  Mel.  1911,  p.  155;  Wissowa, 
Religion  und  Kultus,2  p.  225. 


GEEEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  35 

from  the  public  moneys.  The  god  is  represented  in  relief 
on  the  altar  of  Silvanus  from  Ostia,  which  may  have  been 
intended  originally  as  a  dedication  to  Pater  Tiberinus.2  On 
the  coins  of  Nero  which  represent  the  harbor  of  Claudius  a 
statue  of  the  god  stands  at  the  point  where  the  canal  flows 
into  the  harbor.3 


GENIUS    COLONIAE    OSTIENSIUM 

Two  dedications  to  the  genius  of  the  colony  are  known 
from  Ostia:  8.  Genio  Coloniae  Ostiensium  M.  Cornelius 
Epagathus  curat.  Augustal.  etc.  9.  [Ge]nio  [col.]  Ostien- 
sis  [sajcrum  [Ti]motheus  .  .  .  domus  .  .  .  posuit.  A  priest 
of  the  cult  was  a  Roman  knight:  373.  L.  Licinio  L.  fil.  Pal. 
Herodi  equit.  Rom.  decuriali  decuriae  viatoriae  equestris  cos. 
decurioni  quinquennali  duumviro  sacerdoti  geni  col.  flam. 
Rom.  et  Aug.  curat,  oper.  pub[l.]  quaestori  aer.  aedili  flam, 
divi  Severi  sodali  Arulensi  praet.  prim.  sac.  Volk.  faciu. 
ordo  Augustal.  optimo  civi  ob  merita.  Another  Roman 
knight,  mentioned  in  the  fragmentary  inscription  EE.  vn 
1227,  was  probably  also  a  priest  of  the  genius.  Compare  11. 
6  ff.  Eutyche[ti]  Iun.  eq.  R.  [sac.  gen.?1]  col.  Ost.  flam, 
divi  Ma[rci]  .  .  sodal.  A[rul]   etc. 

The  genius  of  the  colony  is  perhaps  to  be  recognized  in 
the  male  figure  which  is  represented  standing  on  a  pedestal 
in  the  centre  of  the  bas-relief  of  the  Museo  Torlonia.2     This 

2  See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 

3Cf.  Cohen,  Xero  33-38;  Van  Buren,  Journal  of  Roman  Studies,  1911, 
p.   194,  n.  2. 

xLanciani,  who  first  published  this  inscription,  and  Dessau  do  not 
fill  out  this  line.  Though  it  is  impossible  to  tell  how  many  letters 
are  missing,  there  are  certainly  enough  to  make  this  reading  possible. 
.Moreover  there  seems  to  be  a  marked  similarity  in  the  order  of  the 
priesthoods  in  this  inscription  and  in  that  of  Herodes. 

2  See  p.  11.  There  have  been  various  interpretations  of  this  figure 
and  of  the  other  male  figure  on  a  pedestal  to  the  extreme  left  of  the 


36  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

figure,  which  is  clad  in  an  himation  and  holds  a  wreath  and 
a  cornucopia,  is  very  similar  to  that  on  the  coins  of  P.  Cor- 
nelius Lentulus  Marcellinus,3  representing  the  Genius  of  the 
Koman  people  crowning  the  goddess  Koma. 


HEKCULES 

Hercules  is  represented  by  two  inscriptions  from  Ostia. 
In  one  of  these  he  is  invoked  with  Silvanus  (17).  The 
other  inscription,  [Her]c.  August.,  is  on  a  relief  which 
represents  a  head  of  Hercules.1  It  was  unearthed  between 
the  Via  della  Fontana  and  the  theatre  in  the  excavations 
of  1909. 

At  Portus  the  cult  of  Hercules  may  have  been  more  im- 
portant, for  a  pro  salute  inscription  to  Septimius  Severus 
whose  name  is  in  an  erasure,  probably  of  that  of  Commodus, 
was  discovered  there.  Compare  16:  Pro  [salute?]  imp. 
.  .  .  Caes.  Aug.  Nostri  L.  Septimi  Severi  Pertinacis  Herculi 
numini  sancto  cum  basi  marmorata  acceptatoribus  et  terraris 
C.  Sentius  Portesis  s.  p.  d.  d.  Another  dedication  was  made 
by  a  soldier:  13.  .  .  .  Herculi  [C]assius  Ligus  trib.  coh. 
IIII.  vigil,  d.  d.  curam  agenti[bus]  Valerio  Frontin[o  o 
co]h.  II.  vigil,  et  Vario  Fuficiano  ....  rio  Leone  Aemilio 
Catullino  .  .  o  agentibus. 

According  to  Fea,  a  temple  which  was  identified  as  that 
of  Hercules,  apparently  by  the  discovery  of  a  fragmentary 

bas-relief.  This  second  figure  is  clad  in  a  toga  and  also  holds  a  wreath 
and  a  cornucopia.  On  his  head  is  a  crown  which  is  a  small  model  of 
the  pharus  represented  in  the  relief.  Henzen  suggests  that  the  figure 
in  the  tunic  may  represent  the  genius  of  the  port,  and  the  other  one 
Bonus  Eventus  (cf.  Bull.  dell'Inst.  1864,  p.  221),  and  Guglielmotti 
proposes  the  Annona  and  the  Genius  Abundantiae  (op.  cit.  p.  16).  The 
figure  in  the  tunic  may  very  well  be  the  genius  of  the  port. 

3Cf.  Babelon,  Monnaies  de  la  Rtpublique  romaine,  I.  p.  401. 

1NS.  1910,  p.  100,  Fig.  7. 


GREEK  AND  SOMAN  GODS  37 

statue  of  the  god  in  its  ruins,  was  unearthed  in  Portus  in 
1794.2  It  was  covered  up,  but  was  excavated  a  second  time 
in  1867.3  Since,  however,  the  inscriptions  furnish  no  proof 
of  the  existence  of  a  temple  of  Hercules,  the  identification 
seems  very  doubtful.4 


SILVANUS 

At  Ostia  as  elsewhere  there  was  no  public  temple  of 
Silvanus,  but  small  private  shrines  in  his  honor  were  nu- 
merous. Altars  were  dedicated  to  him  by  men  from  the 
lower  classes  who  were  often  members  of  the  familia 
Caesaris.1  Compare  49  (Portus).  Silvano  sac.  T.  Flavius 
Aug.  lib.  Primigenius  tabularius  adiutor.  52.  Silvano  sane, 
sac.  Dorotheus  Aug.  lib.  proc.  massae  Marian,  s.  d.  d.  50. 
Silvano  s[ac(rum)]   Successus  Agathemer[i]  imp.  T.  Cae- 

1  Cf.  Fea,  Viaggio  ad  Ostia,  p.  39.  "  Gli  avanzi  d'un  tempio  d'Ercole 
furono  trovati  nel  sudetto  anno  1794,  a  piccola  distanza  dall'orlo  del 
porto,  colla  statua  di  lui  frantumata,  e  molti  residui  di  cornici,  e  altri 
membri  di  architettura."     Cf.  Nibby,  Contorni  di  Roma,  EC.  p.  656. 

3  Cf.  Lanciani,  Ann.  dell' Inst.  1868,  p.  172.  "  Anche  il  tempio  di 
Ercole  chiuso  nel  perimetro  del  palazzo  fu  nuovamente  sterrato  nel 
passato  marzo,  ritraendone  rocchi  di  colonne,  capitelli  di  fino  intaglio, 
e  tre  basi  di  m.  0,  90  di  diametro."  The  temple  is  not  indicated  on 
Laneiani's  plan  of  the  harbor,  Mon.  dell'Inst.  vm.  Tav.  xlix. 

*  Four  groups,  representing  Hercules  with  the  Thracian  Diomedes, 
with  the  Erymanthian  boar,  with  Geryon,  and  with  Cerberus,  dis- 
covered in  the  excavations  of  Gavin  Hamilton  at  Ostia,  are  now  in 
the  Sala  degli  animali  of  the  Vatican.  Cf.  Amelung,  Sc.  d.  Vat.  Mus. 
n.  Sala  degli  animali,  nos.  137,  141,  208,  213,  Taf.  34.  Another  group 
representing  Hercules  and  Telephus  is  in  the  Museo  Torlonia  (no.  388). 
Cf.  Reinach,  Repertoire  de  la  statuaire  grecque  et  romaine,  II.  p.  233. 
A  fragmentary  statue  of  the  god  is  in  the  Lateran.  Cf.  Benndorf  and 
Schoene,  Die  antiken  Bildwerke  des  Lateran.  Museums,  No.  582. 
However,  the  frequency  of  representations  of  Hercules  in  Roman  art 
makes  it  impossible  to  attach  any  special  religious  significance  to  these 
finds. 

1  Cf.  R.  Peter  s.  v.  Silvanus,  Roscher,  col.  863. 


38  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

saris  Aug.  ser.  [pjaterni  vicarius  [v]otum  posuit.  Perhaps 
the  same  Agathemerus  made  the  dedication  (48)  :  Sil[vano] 
sac[rum]  Agat[hemerus  ?]  fe[cit  ?].  A  freedman  of  a  freed- 
man  of  the  imperial  household  dedicated  to  Silvanus  the 
beautiful  altar  in  the  National  Museum  in  Rome,  which  was 
found  behind  the  stage  of  the  theatre  at  Ostia.2  On  the 
narrow  upper  projection  of  the  front  face  of  the  altar  is  the 
inscription  (51):  [A] ram  sac[omari  ad  Anno?]  nam  Aug. 
genio  [collegii  ?]  sacomar ;  lower  down  on  this  face :  P.  Aelius 
Trophimi  Aug.  1.  proc.  prov.  Cretae  lib.  Syneros  et  Trophi- 
mus  et  Aelianus  fili ;  on  the  lower  projection:  decurionum 
decreto.  The  dedication,  votum  Silvano,  is  on  the  narrow 
upper  projection  of  the  left  face  of  the  altar;  on  the  right 
face  is  the  consular  date  124.  Excellent  reliefs  representing 
Romulus  and  Remus  suckled  by  the  wolf,  shepherds  and 
Pater  Tiberinus,  Mars  and  Venus,  winged  genii,  etc.,  adorn 
the  four  sides  of  the  altar.  Since  these  reliefs  have  nothing 
to  do  with  Silvanus,  and  since  the  inscriptions  obviously 
occupy  spaces  which  are  not  suited  to  them,3  it  seems  pro- 
bable that  the  altar  was  originally  intended  as  a  dedication 
to  some  other  god,  perhaps  to  Mars  or  to  Pater  Tiberinus, 
who,  as  we  know,  had  a  shrine  at  Ostia.  The  words  decreto 
decurionum  suggest  that  the  altar  probably  stood  in  some  very 
prominent  place.4 

Silvanus  is  grouped  with  other  gods  in  dedications  from 
Ostia.  An  altar  to  Hercules  and  Silvanus,  who  are  often 
invoked  together  elsewhere,5  was  found  there:  17.  Herculi 

2Cf.  EE.  ix  p.  334.  Lanciani,  NS.  1881,  pp.  lllff.;  Lucas,  Rom. 
Mitth.  1899,  p.  220;  Ducati,  M61.  1906,  pp.  483-512;  Strong,  Roman 
Sculpture,  pp.  241-243,  PI.  73,  74. 

3  Ducati,  I.  c,  thinks  that  all  the  inscriptions  were  cut  at  the  time 
that  the  altar  was  made  except  the  one  to  Silvanus  which  was  added 
later. 

*Borsari,  Ostia  e  il  Porto  di  Roma  antica,  Rome,  1904,  p.  12,  thinks 
that  the  altar  may  have  stood  in  the  temple  in  the  Forum  which  he 
identifies  as  the  temple  of  Roma  and  Augustus. 

5  Cf.  Peter,  I.  c.  col.  853. 


GREEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  39 

et  Silvano  sa[c]  Ti.  Claudius  Diadumeuus  cellarius  fe[c] 
Unique  is  the  combination  of  gods  in  20  (OstiaJ.  Pro  salute 
et  reditu  imp.  Antonini  Aug.  Faustinae  Aug.  liberorumque 
eorum  aram  sanctae  Isdi  numini  Sarapis  sancto  Silvano 
Larib.  C.  Pomponius  Turpilianus  proc.  ad  oleum  in  Galbae 
Ostiae  portus  utriusque  d.  d.6 

In  one  dedication  recently  found  at  Portus  the  god  is 
addressed  in  his  capacity  of  special  guardian  of  hunters.7 

A    fragmentary    dedication    to    Silvanus   was    discovered 


"Von  Domazewski  (Silvanus  auf  lateinischen  Inschriften,  Philol. 
1902,  p.  7  =  Abhandlungen  zur  romischen  Religion,  1909,  pp.  65  f.)  cites 
these  two  inscriptions  with  nine  others  to  Silvanus  which  were  set 
up  by  men  connected  with  granaries  or  other  buildings.  He  thinks 
that  just  as  Silvanus  was  regarded  as  tutor  finium  in  the  country, 
so  when  his  cult  found  its  way  into  the  cities: — "  Hier  wird  er  zum 
Beschiitzer  jener  Raume,  deren  unbefugtes  Betreten  oder  Verlassen  er 
hindern  soil."  To  us  the  evidence  seems  far  from  convincing,  since 
in  seven  of  the  eleven  cases  cited  by  von  Domazewski  Silvanus  is 
united  with  other  gods.  At  any  rate  the  pro  salute  inscription  from 
Ostia,  in  which  Silvanus  is  grouped  with  Isis,  Sarapis,  and  the  Lares, 
cannot  be  used  as  evidence  that  Silvanus  was  regarded  by  the  pro- 
curator ad  oleum  in  Galbae  (sc.  horreis)  as  the  special  protector  of 
the  granaries  of  which  he  was  in  charge.  The  dedication  comes  natu- 
rally from  a  member  of  the  civil  service  closely  connected  with  the 
imperial  administration.     Cf.  Peter,  I.  c.  col.  863-864. 

T  Quoted  in  discussion  of  Liber  Pater.  Peter,  I.  c.  col.  843,  in  his 
discussion  of  Silvanus  as  god  of  hunters  overlooks  this  inscription. 
The  other  dedications  known  seem  to  have  been  made  by  hunters  of 
wild  animals.  Carcopino,  Mel.  1909,  pp.  346  f.  explains  the  words 
conducto  aucupiorum  of  this  inscription  as  '  pour  la  ferme  des  aucupia'; 
that  is,  P.  Luscius  had  for  a  certain  period  the  right  to  farm  out 
bird-hunting  in  a  district  which  probably  included  Portus,  and.  having 
been  successful  in  his  venture,  he  expressed  his  gratitude  to  Silvanus. 
The  fact  that  the  dedication  is  made  by  a  priest  of  Liber  Pater  is  not 
convincing  evidence  for  the  assumption  of  Carcopino  that  the  altar 
stood  in  the  temple  of  Liber  Pater  at  Portus;  moreover,  Carcopino's 
statement  that  dedications  to  Silvanus  from  Ostia  stood  in  the  temple 
of  Isis  and  in  the  Metroum  will  not  bear  close  examination.  No.  20 
may  have  stood  in  the  temple  of  Isis,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  it  did, 
and  No.  53  comes  not  from  the  Metroum  but  from  the  schola  of  the 
dendrophori. 


40  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

recently  in  one  of  the  tombs.     Compare  NS.  1910,  p.  23. 
Silva  .  . .  sac  . . .  s  . . . 

There  was  a  statue  of  Silvanus  among  the  dedications  to 
the  dendrophori  of  Ostia.  Compare  53.  C.  Atilius  Bassi 
sacerdotis  lib.  Felix  apparator  M.  d.  m.  signum  Silvani 
dendrophoris  Ostiensibus  d.  d.  Silvanus,  who  was  regularly 
represented  as  holding  a  pine-branch  in  his  hand,  is  probably 
to  be  regarded  as  the  prototype  of  the  dendrophori  who  carried 
the  sacred  pine.8  It  is  significant  that  in  a  dedication  from 
Rome  made  by  a  quinquennalis  perpetuus  to  the  dendrophori 
Magnae  Matris  Silvanus  is  addressed  with  the  epithet  den- 
drophorus.9 

In  a  niche  of  the  vestibule  of  the  Mithreum  near  the  baths 
a  mosaic  representation  of  Silvanus  was  discovered.10  The 
god  is  represented  standing,  clad  in  a  short  tunic,  with  the 
skin  of  an  animal  over  his  arm.  He  is  bearded  and  has 
long  hair;  a  blue-green  nimbus  encircles  his  head.  In  his 
left  hand  he  holds  a  branch,  in  his  right  a  hatchet.  On  either 
side  of  him  are  trees;  on  the  left  there  is  a  dog  and  on  the 
right  an  altar.     Another  mosaic  figure,  first  interpreted  as 

8  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  connection  of  Silvanus  with  the 
dendrophori  which  was  proposed  by  C.  L.  Visconti,  Bull.  com.  1890, 
pp.  21-23.  Domazewski,  Philol.  1902,  p.  15,  Anm.  146  (=  Abhand- 
lungen,  p.  74,  Amn.  11),  and  Peter,  I.  c.  col.  866,  accept  it.  But  Cumont 
s.  v.  Dendrophorus,  Pauly-Wissowa  and  Waltzing,  titude  historique 
sur  les  corporations  professionelles,  I.  pp.  251  f.,  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  dendrophori  worshiped  Silvanus  in  the  first  place  and  became  at- 
tached to  the  cult  of  Magna  Mater  at  a  later  period.  Aurigemma,  s.  v. 
dendrophori,  Kuggiero,  p.  1678,  thinks  that  the  dendrophori  were  at- 
tached to  both  cults,  and  makes  no  suggestion  as  to  which  they  wor- 
shiped first. 

9C7L.  vi  641,  cf.  642. 

10  Now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  Cf.  C.  L.  "Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst. 
1864,  pp.  174  f.  Tav.  d'Agg.  L.  M.,  n.  3;  F.  Cumont,  Textes  et  Monu- 
ments, II.  p.  241,  fig.  73;  The  Mysteries  of  Mithra,  Fig.  17;  Benndorf 
and  Schoene,  Die  antilcen  Bildwerke  des  Lateran.  Mus.  n.  551;  Peter, 
I.  c.  col.  837;  Nogara,  I  Mosaici  dei  Palazzi  Vaticano  e  Laterano,  1910, 
PI.  LXVIII. 


GBEEK  AND  KOMAN  GODS  41 

Saturn,  but  which  is  more  probably  Silvanus,  is  found  in 
the  pavement  of  the  Mithreum  near  the  Metroum.11  Here 
the  god  holds  a  scythe  in  his  left  hand  and  a  spade  in  his 
right.  The  scythe  is  frequently  an  attribute  of  this  god, 
and,  though  no  representation  of  him  with  a  spade  is  known, 
there  is  enough  variety  in  his  attributes  to  make  it  seem 
quite  possible  that  he  might  sometimes  have  been  portrayed 
with  an  emblem  so  well  suited  to  his  agricultural  character.12 
Silvanus  was  especially  honored  by  devotees  of  Mithras,13 
in  whose  cult  he  was  identified  with  Drvaspa.14 

A  collegium  Silvani  existed  at  Ostia.     Cf.  309.  Dis  mani- 
bus    L.    Calpurnius    Chius    sevir    Aug.    et    quinquennalis 

idem  quinquennal.   collegi  Silvani  Aug.   maioris  quod 

est  Hilarionis  functus  sacomari,  etc.  This  inscription  to- 
gether with  the  inscription  on  the  altar  of  Silvanus  in  the 
National  Museum  discussed  above  makes  it  seem  probable 
that  the  Collegium  Silvani  may  have  been  connected  with 
the  sacomarium  or  public  weighing  place.15 


GODS    OF    COLLEGIA 

In  addition  to  the  religious  collegia  discussed  elsewhere — 
the  Augustales,  the  dendrophori  and  cannophori,  the  colle- 

11  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1868,  pp.  402  ff. ;  Cumont,  Textes  et  Monu- 
ments, n.  n.  295,  pp.  414-418. 

u  Cf.  list  of  representations  of  Silvanus  given  by  Peter,  I.  c.  cols. 
825-842.     This  mosaic  is  not  mentioned. 

18  Cf.  Cumont,  Textes  et  Monuments,  i.  pp.  147-148. 

"A  painting  representing  Silvanus  is  said  by  P.  H.  Visconti  (quoted 
by  De  Rossi,  Bull.  Crist.  1870,  p.  78;  1876,  p.  40,  n.  1 )  to  have  been 
found  in  the  excavations  of  1867-1870  at  the  entrance  to  a  house  in 
Ostia.  Dessau  on  54  suggests  that  the  report  may  be  a  mistake,  since 
neither  the  younger  Visconti  nor  Lanciani  knew  anything  of  the 
painting. 

15  Cf .  Dessau's  note  on  309 ;  von  Domazewski,  op.  cit.  p.  8  =  p.  66. 


42  THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

gium  Silvani  Aug.  and  the  mensores  frumentarii  Ceteris 
Aug.  may  be  mentioned  the  cultores  Iovis  Tutoris(  ?).  Com- 
pare 25.  Iovi  tutori  Q.  Veturius  Secundus  A.  Libius  Hila- 
rianus  quaglator  et  curator  donu  daeder.  cultoribus.1  430 
mentions  a  quinquennalis  of  the  collegium  geni  fori  vinarii. 

The  venders  of  oakum  were  devoted  to  the  cult  of  Minerva : 
44.  Numini  evidentissimo  Minervae  Aug.  sacrum  conserva- 
trici  et  antistiti  splendidissimi  corporis  stuppatorum  ornatam 
omni  cultu  d.  d.  etc. 

Two  dedications  to  genii  of  collegia  come  from  Ostia.  One 
of  them  was  on  the  base  of  a  statue  of  the  genius,  clad  in  a 
toga  and  holding  a  cornucopia:  10.  Genio  corporis  pell.  Ost. 
qui  [bus  ex.  s.  c.  coire  licet?]  M.  Aurel.  Lamprocles  Aug. 
lib.  pat. .  .  .  s.  p.  d.  d.  d.  The  other  is  a  pro  salute  inscrip- 
tion: EE.  ix  434.  Pro  salute  impp.  Severi  et  Antonini 
Augg.  et  Getae  nobilissimi  Caes.  et  Iuliae  Aug.  m.  Augg. 
et  castr.  genio  saccariorum  salarior.  totius  urbis  camp.  sal. 
Rom.  Restitutianus  etc.2 


MINOR    CULTS 

Mars.  Statues  of  Mars  were  presented  to  the  dendro- 
phori  (33),  to  the  familia  publica  (32),  and  to  Isis  (EE. 
vn  1194).  Fea  reports  the  discovery  at  Ostia  of  a  statue 
of  Mars  on  which  was  the  inscription  (31),  Marti.1  The 
statue  has  disappeared.  A  dedication  to  Ma.  Victori  Patri, 
made  by  worshipers  of  Mithras,  perhaps  refers  to  a  god  of 
the  Persian  Pantheon  who  was  identified  with  Mars  (N8. 
1910,  pp.  186  f.).2 

JThis  inscription  was  found  about  five  miles  from  Ostia,  but  pro- 
bably came  originally  from  there. 

2  Cf.  also  51. genio sacomar. 

1  Viaggio  ad  Ostia,  p.  53. 

2  Quoted  p.  91. 


GEEEK  AND  ROMAN  GODS  43 

Among  the  titles  of  L.  Calpurnius  Chius,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Ostia  (309),  is  magister  ad  Martem  Ficanum. 
No  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  title  has  been  found. 
Borghesi  suggested  that  it  might  be  connected  with  the 
ancient  Latin  city  Ficana  which  was  situated  on  the  eleventh 
milestone  of  the  Via  Ostiensis  and  was  supposedly  destroyed 
by  Ancus  Marcius.3  A  good  suggestion,  which  does  not, 
however,  account  for  the  meaning  of  Ficanus,  is  that  of 
Gatti  4 — that  ad  Martem  Ficanum  is  the  name  of  a  vicus 
of  which  Chius  was  magister.5 

Neptune.  Strange  to  say,  there  is  no  evidence  for  a 
temple  of  Neptune  at  Ostia.  The  god  is  mentioned  only  in 
the  inscription  of  Catius  Sabinus  from  which  it  appears  that 
he  shared  with  Castor  and  Pollux  the  honor  of  the  national 
games.6  His  statue  appears,  however,  on  the  Pharus  on 
coins  representing  the  port  of  Claudius,7  and  in  a  prominent 
place  in  the  bas-reliefs  of  that  harbor  in  the  Museo  Torlonia. 
The  well-known  Poseidon  of  the  Lateran  was  discovered  at 
Portus.8  But  these  statues  do  not  suffice  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  a  cult  of  Neptune  at  Portus. 

Apollo.  A  small  statue  of  the  god  was  recently  found  at 
Ostia.  On  its  base  was  the  inscription  (N8.  1910,  p.  23), 
Varenus  Augg.  lib.  adiut.  tabul.  f.  deo  Apollini  Vip. 

3  Vide  Dessau  on  309.  Paschetto  seems  to  think  Borghesi's  suggestion 
probable,  ef.  op.  cit.  p.  55.  This  explanation  is  certainly  more  satis- 
factory than  that  of  Roscher  (s.  v.  Mars,  col.  2428),  who  thinks  that 
the  epithet  ficanus  may   imply  that  the  fig  tree  was  sacred  to  Mars. 

4  Bull.  com.  1892,  p.  372.  Gatti  makes  this  suggestion  in  publishing 
the  inscription  EE.  ix  470,  which  proves  the  existence  of  magistri 
vicorum  at  Ostia. 

5  The  famous  altar  of  the  National  Museum  which  is  dedicated  to 
Silvanus  may  have  been  intended  originally  as  a  dedication  to  Mars, 
to  whom  some  of  the  reliefs  relate.     See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 

eCf.  1  and  see  discussion  of  Castor  and  Pollux. 

1  Cf.  Cohen,  Me'daillcs  impe'riales,  i.  Nero  33-41. 

8  The  statue  was  found  in  the  remains  of  a  large  building,  supposed 
to  be  Baths.  Cf.  Benndorf  and  Schoene,  Die  antiken  Bildwerke  des 
Lateran.  Museums,  p.  182,  no.  287. 


44  THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

Diana  seems  to  have  been  worshiped  by  the  spira  Traia- 
nensium,  which  was  devoted  primarily  to  the  cult  of  Liber 
Pater  (4). 

Nymphs.  Two  dedications  to  the  Nymphs  come  from 
Ostia:  46a.  Nymphis  divinis  sacravit  D.  Hostius  Heraclida. 
EE.  ix  438.  Numfabus  (sic)  Titus  Aminnericus  donum 
fecit.  A  marble  well-head  was  dedicated  to  Ceres  and  the 
Nymphs — a  combination  not  found  elsewhere    (2). 

Deified  Abstractions.  A  statue  of  Fides  was  presented, 
apparently,  to  the  collegium  fabrum  tignuariorum :  5.  P. 
Cornelius  Thallus  P.  Corneli  Architecti  fil.  mag.  quinq.  coll. 
fabr.  tignar.  lustri  XXVII.  nomine  P.  Corneli  Architecti- 
ani  fil.  sui  allecti  in  ordinem  decurion.  Fidei  signum  dono 
dedit.  Tutela  is  one  of  the  deities  addressed  in  a  dedica- 
tion 9  found  at  Ostia.10 

Dedications  to    Genii :     7.    Genio    kastrorum    peregrinor. 

Optatianus  et  Pudens  frumm.  fratres  ministerio 

vota  solverunt.  11.  Genio  loci.  On  a  travertine  block 
recently  found  is  the  inscription  (NS.  1910,  p.  31),  G(enio) 
p(opuli)  R(omani)  f (eliciter).11 

Domina.  It  is  not  known  what  goddess  is  addressed  in 
the  inscription  (74)  :  Thiasus  Acili  Glabrion.  inperatu  aram 
fecit  dominae.12 

Sodalis  Arulensis.  Four  inscriptions  of  Ostia  mention 
this  priesthood,  which  is  not  known  elsewhere:  341.  Me- 
moriae M.  Corneli  M.  f.  Pal.  Valeriani  Epagathiani  eq. 
[R.]  decurioni  splendidissimae  coloniae  Os[tiensis]  namini 
praetori  II.  sacra  Volkani  [fac.  ei]demque  sodale  Arulen[si] 
etc.     373.  L.  Licinio  L.  fil.  Pal.  Herodi  equit.  Rom.  decu- 

'EE.  ix  440.     Quoted  p.  92. 

10  Under  the  cult  of  the  emperors  will  be  discussed  dedications  to 
Victoria  Augustor  (um),  Salus  Caesar  is  Aug.  and  a  possible  reference 
to  Annona  Aug. 

11  For  other  cases  of  this  inscription  see  Cesano  in  Ruggiero  s.  v. 
genius,  p.  468. 

"  Cf.  Peter  s.  v.  Domina,  Roscher. 


GREEK    AND    SOMAN    GODS  45 

riali  decuriae  viatoriae  equestris  cos.  deourioni  quinquennali 
duumviro  sacerdoti  geni  col.  flam.  Rom.  et  Aug.  curat,  oper. 
publ.  quaestori  aer.  aedili  flam,  divi  Soveri  sodali  Arulensi 
praet.  prim.  sac.  Volk.  faciu.  ordo  Augustal.  optimo  civi  ob 
merita.  432.  [D.]  m.  [Q.  Vetu]rio  Firmio  [Felici]  So- 
crati  [qq.  c.  p.  d]ecurioni  [praet.  prjimo  sac.  [Volk.  fa]ci- 
undis  [sodali  AJrulesium  vix.  etc.  EE.  vn  1227,  11.  6  ff. 
Eutyche[ti]  Iun.  Eq.  R.  [sac.  gen.?]  col.  Ost.  flam,  divi 
Ma[rci  .  .  .  ]  sodal.  A[rul]  etc.  Three  of  these  sodales 
were  Roman  Knights.  The  origin  and  duties  of  the  priest- 
hood are  not  known.  Carcopino  13  compares  the  title  sodalis 
Cabensis,  which  is  probably  a  survival  of  a  city  Cabe  or 
Cabum  which  disappeared,14  and  suggests  that  sodalis  Aru- 
lensis  may  be  evidence  for  the  existence  of  a  city  Arula,  "  une 
Ostie  pre  Ostienne."  He  thinks  it  may  be  significant  that 
all  of  these  sodales  except  one  are  praetors  of  Vulcan. 

aM4l.  1911,  p.  189,  n.  2. 

14  Cf.  Wissowa  s.  v.  Cabenses  sacerdotes,  Pauly-Wissowa. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Cult  of  the  Emperoes 

Contact  with  the  Orient,  where  worship  of  the  emperors 
had  its  origin,  was  probably  responsible  for  the  early  intro- 
duction of  the  imperial  cult  at  Ostia  and  at  Puteoli.1  The 
latter  city,  Rome's  chief  port  at  the  beginning  of  the  Empire, 
had  a  temple  of  Augustus  built  during  the  lifetime  of  the 
first  emperor.  Ostia,  too,  though  far  less  important  at  that 
time,  had  a  temple  of  Roma  and  Augustus  which  was  estab- 
lished before  the  death  of  Augustus.2     This  temple  must 

1  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  145.  Dubois  goes  too  far  when  he  says  of  the 
imperial  cult  at  Puteoli,  "  L'extension  qu'il  prit  tres  vite,  a  cause  du 
caractere  oriental  de  la  ville,  est  confirmee  par  les  nationalites  des 
Augustales  .  .  presque  tous  portent  des  noms  grecs  et  orientaux."  The 
Augustales  were  usually  freedmen,  and  Greek  and  Oriental  names  are 
very  common  among  them.  It  is  doubtful  whether  there  are  any  more 
such  names  at  Puteoli  than  elsewhere. 

2  Cf.  Hubert  Heinen,  Zur  Begriindung  des  romischen  Kaiserkultes, 
Klio,  1911,  pp.  129  ff.  especially  the  list  of  "  Priester,  Altare  und  Tem- 
pel  des  lebenden  Augustus  in  Italien,"  p.  175.  This  list  includes  places 
where  the  cult  of  Augustus  alone  or  the  cult  of  the  emperor  with  the 
goddess  Roma  is  known  to  have  existed,  and  Heinen  does  not  distin- 
guish between  the  two.  Inscriptions  show  that  in  the  lifetime  of 
Augustus  Roma  and  Augustus  were  worshiped  together  in  Cisalpine 
Gaul  at  Pola,  Verona,  and  Tridentum  (not  mentioned  by  Heinen,  cf. 
CIL.  v  5036,  cf.  also  CIL.  v  5511  sacerdos  Romae  et  Augusti  from  an 
unknown  place)  ;  in  Italy  proper  this  cult  is  known  only  at  Ostia, 
Tarracina,  Luna,  and  Ulubrae  (omitted  by  Heinen,  cf.  CIL.  x  6485 
which  records  the  restoration  of  the  temple  of  Roma  and  Augustus 
there  in  132  A.  D.).  It  is  noteworthy  that  three  of  these  places  are 
ports,  where  the  worship  was  probably  introduced  directly  from  the 
Orient.  A  number  of  the  cities  in  which  the  cult  of  Augustus  alone 
was  known  were  also  ports — Cumae,  Puteoli,  Pompeii,  Neapolis,  Pisae. 
The  lists  of  places  given  by  Franz  Richter  s.  v.  Roma,  Roscher,  col. 
144-145  where  there  were  flamines  of  Roma  and  Augustus,  Roma  and 
divus  Augustus,  etc.  are  unreliable.  Cf.  also  W.  S.  Ferguson,  Legalized 
Absolutism  en  route  from  Greece  to  Rome,  Am.  Hist.  Review,  Vol.  xvin, 
1912,  pp.  28  ff. 

46 


THE    CULT    OF    THE    EMPERORS  47 

have  been  of  considerable  size,  for  the  decuriones  sometimes 
held  their  sessions  there.3  Flamines  4  were  in  charge  of  the 
worship,  and  an  aedituus  (73),  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
freedman  of  the  colony,  is  mentioned  in  an  inscription.  Bor- 
sari  5  proposes  to  identify  the  temple  in  the  Forum,  commonly 
known  as  that  of  Ceres,0  as  the  temple  of  Eoma  and  Au- 
gustus. Its  size  and  prominent  position  support  the  sug- 
gestion, but  the  date  of  its  construction  can  hardly  be  placed 
before  the  second  century.  If  it  were  the  temple  of  Koma 
and  Augustus,  we  should  be  forced  to  suppose  that  it  was 
destroyed  at  some  time  and  completely  rebuilt,  an  assump- 
tion for  which  there  is,  as  yet,  no  evidence.7 

Livia  must  have  had  a  shrine  at  Ostia,  for  a  flaminica 
dirae  Aug(nstae)  is  known  (399,  compare  455).  There  is 
evidence  for  flamines  of  the  divi  Vespasian  (292,  298,  NS. 
1910,  p.  107),  Titus  (400,  4142),  Hadrian  (390,  391,  353, 
N8.  1910,  p.  13),  Marcus  Aurelius  (EE.  vn  1227),  and 
Septimius  Severus  (373).  Flamen8  alone,  which  occurs 
three  times  in  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia,  is  probably  the  same 
as  flamen  divorum,  which  occurs  once  (444).  These  fla- 
mines were  among  the  most  important  men  of  the  colony, 

3  See  353  (inscription  of  Fabius  Hermogenes).  Cf.  a  very  similar 
inscription  of  the  same  man  found  recently,  NS.  1910,  p.  13. 

*  373,  400,  4142;  a  flamen  perpetuus  is  recorded  in  an  inscription 
published  recently.  Bull.  com.   1910,  p.  332. 

B  Ostia  e  il  Porto  di  Roma  antica,  1904,  p.  12. 

°Cf.  Lanciani,  NS.  1881,  p.  114.  Excavations  now  in  progress  in 
the  vicinity  of  this  temple  may  decide  its  identity,  as  well  as  the 
question  of  whether  it  is  situated  in  the  main  Forum  of  the  city. 

7  There  is  no  evidence  for  the  independent  worship  of  Roma  at  Ostia. 
Cf.,  however,  the  inscription  given  by  Vaglieri,  NS.  1910,  pp.  104  ff., 
which  records  the  erection,  apparently  at  Rome,  of  a  statue  dedicated 
to  Urbs  at  the  expense  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ostia.  The  statue  was 
set  up  by  Ragoniua  Vincentiua  Celsus  v.  c.  praefectus  annonae  urbis 
Romae.     Cf.  Wissowa,  Religion   und  Kultus'  p.  341,  n.  1. 

s301,  332,  341  and  p.  .">.  Beurlier,  he  culte  imperial,  Paris,  1891, 
pp.  168-172,  seems  to  believe  that  the  simple  flamines  were  priests  of 
the  reigning  emperor. 


48  THE   CULTS  OF  OSTIA 

often  municipal  magistrates,  and  sometimes  Eoman  knights 
(353,  390).  Especially  interesting  is  the  dedication  which 
is  on  the  base  of  an  equestrian  statue  of  Fabius  Hermogenes: 
353  (restored  from  the  similar  inscription,  NS.  1910,  p.  13) 
[C.  Domitio  C.  Fil.  Pal.]  Fabio  Hermog[eni]  equo  publ. 
scribae  aedil[i.]  dec.  adlect.  flam,  divi  Hadri[ani]  in  cuius 
sacerdotio  solus  ac  p[rimus  ludos]  scaenicos  sua  pecunia 
fecit,  [aedili].  Hunc  splendidissimus  ordo  dec[urionum 
f  (unere)  p(ublico)]  honoravit  eique  statuam  equestre[m  cum 
in]scriptione  ob  amorem  et  industria[m  omne]m  in  foro 
ponendam  pecun.  publ.  decr[evit],  etc. 

Shrines  of  the  individual  emperors  who  had  flamines  pro- 
bably existed  at  Ostia.9  Indeed,  remains  have  been  found 
of  a  shrine  of  several  emperors  in  the  heart  of  the  barracks 
of  the  vigiles,10  but  this  seems  to  have  been  a  private  sanc- 
tuary of  the  vigiles,  not  accessible  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city.  At  the  rear  of  the  atrium  of  the  barracks,  in  the 
place  occupied  by  the  tablinum  of  a  private  house,  a  narrow 
vestibule  opens  into  a  large  room.  Along  the  rear  wall  of 
this  room  is  a  platform  on  which  are  five  bases  for  statues 
with  inscriptions  of  the  emperors: — (in  order  from  right  to 
left)  Marcus  Aurelius  before  he  was  emperor  (EE.  vn  1199, 
140  a.  d.),  Marcus  as  emperor  (ibid.  1200,  162  a.  d.),  Sep- 
timius  Severus  (ibid.  1203,  195  a.  d.),  Lucius  Verus  (ibid. 
1201,  162  a.  d.),  Antoninus  Pius  (ibid.  1198,  138  a.  d.). 
The  inscription  to  Severus  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the 
platform  is  written  over  an  erasure  where,  as  Lanciani  has 
shown,  there  was  an  inscription  to  Hadrian,  in  whose  reign 
the  small  Augusteum  was  constructed.  In  the  reign  of  An- 
toninus, statues  of  that  emperor  and  of  his  adopted  son  Mar- 
cus  Aurelius   were  erected,   and   later,   when   Marcus   was 

•Perhaps  evidence  for  a  shrine  of  Trajan  is  to  be  found  in  the  in- 
scription NS.  1911,  p.  283.     Divo  Traiano  colleg.  fabr.  tig. 

10  Lanciani,  NS.  1889,  pp.  72-78.  For  a  view  of  the  shrine  cf.  p.  74. 
plan,  p.  78;   MM.  1889,  pp.  174-179;   Andr6,  ibid.  pp.  180-183. 


THE    CULT    OF    THE    EMPEEOES  49 

emperor,  another  statue  of  him  and  one  of  his  co-regent 
Lucius  Verus  were  added.  On  one  side  of  the  room  is  a 
base  with  an  inscription  to  L.  Aelius  Caesar  (ibid.  1197, 
137  a.  d.).11  Traces  of  the  sacrificial  altar  can  be  seen 
in  the  centre  of  the  room.  On  the  floor  of  the  vestibule 
there  is  a  mosaic  representing  the  sacrifice  of  bulls,  which 
Carcopino  12  has  interpreted  as  a  group  of  soldiers  sacri- 
ficing to  a  living  emperor. 

In  addition  to  the  worship  of  individual  emperors,  the 
imperial  cult  existed  in  other  forms  at  Ostia.  When  the 
scliola  of  the  dendrophori  was  repaired,  it  was  dedicated  to 
Numen  domus  Augustae.  Compare  45.  Numini  domus  Aug. 
D[endrophori  Ostienjses  scolam  quam  sua  pecunia  consti- 
t[uerant  novis  sum]p  ibus  a  solo  [restituerunt.  46.  jSTumini 
domus  Augusti  op.  pi.  p.13  EE.  ix  437  Numini  domus 
Augusti  Victor  et  Hedistus  vern.  disp.  cum  Traiano  Aug. 
lib.  a.  X.  m.14  A  fragmentary  inscription  (26)  seems  to 
refer  to  a  sanctuary  of  the  imperial  Lares.  Compare  also 
367.  P.  Horatio  Chryseroti  seviro  Augustal.  idem  quinq.  et 
immuni  Larum  Aug.  etc.15     Two  dedications  to  Lares  may 

11  Statues  of  Severus,  Caracalla,  Geta,  and  Julia  Domna  and  of  Dia- 
dumeniamis,  Gordian  and  Furia  Sabinia  were  later  placed  in  the  court 
outside  the  Augusteum.     Cf.  EE.  vn  1204-1211. 

u  Mel.  1907,  pp.  227-241,  PL  v-vi.  Andr6,  H61.  1889,  p.  182,  had 
suggested  that  the  name  might  refer  to  the  cult  of  Mithras,  but  Car- 
copino shows  very  convincingly  that  it  is  far  better  to  explain  it  as 
representing  the  sort  of  sacrifice  that  was  probably  often  made  in  the 
shrine.  The  acta  fratrum  Arvalinm.  tell  us  that  a  bull  was  the  proper 
sacrifice  for  a  living  emperor.  All  the  figures  in  the  mosaic,  except 
two  who  are  identified  as  the  drover  and  the  popa,  wear  the  tunic  with 
or  without  the  short  mantle,  and  may  very  well  be  soldiers. 

lsNon  intelligitur    (Dessau). 

"Aeris  decern  ..  ?   (Dessau). 

15  The  connection  of  this  sevir  Augustalis  with  the  cult  of  the  Lares 
is  interesting.  His  position  as  immunis  Larum  Aug.  seems  to  be  quite 
apart  from  his  rank  as  sevir,  though  Porphyrio  on  Horace,  Sat.  II.  3, 
281  says  that  the  cult  of  the  Lares  was  cared  for  by  freedmen  called 
Augustalcs.  The  evidence  seems  to  show  that  this  statement  is  wrong. 
Cf.  Mourlot,  Histoire  de  VAugustalitd,  Paris,  1895,  p.  78. 

4 


50  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

refer  to  the  imperial  Lares.16  A  marble  base  bears  the  dedi- 
cation (68),  Victoriae  Augustor.  Yet  another  base,  found 
recently  just  outside  the  city  gates,  has  the  inscription: 
Saluti  Caesaris  August.  Glabrio  patronus  coloniae  d.  d.  f.  c.17 
Vaglieri  thinks  that  the  inscription  dates  from  the  coming 
of  some  emperor  to  Ostia  in  the  early  part  of  the  second 
century.  Carcopino  tries  to  date  the  dedication  more  defi- 
nitely.18 He  notes  that  a  M\  Acilius  Glabrio  was  consul  with 
Commodus  in  186  a.  d.19  In  that  year  there  was  a  dreadful 
plague  at  Rome,  and  Commodus,  at  the  advice  of  his  physi- 
cians, retired  to  his  Laurentian  villa.  Prayers  were  offered 
for  the  emperor's  safety  in  Ostia,  ai  d  Carcopino  believes 
that  the  statue  of  Salus  may  have  been  set  up  on  this  occasion. 
The  letters  of  the  inscription  certainly  indicate  a  second 
century  date,  though  perhaps  hardly  so  late  a  date  as  the 
time  of  Commodus.  Moreover  the  base  is  in  close  relation- 
ship with  the  second  century  gate.  But  the  name  Caesar 
Augustus  should  refer  to  the  first  emperor,20  and  the  simple 

10  20,  EE.  ix  440. 

17  NS.  1910,  p.  60.  Vaglieri  suggests  that  the  base  supported  a  statue 
of  Salus  Augusta,  a  standing  woman  about  to  feed  a  serpent,  of  a  type 
found  on  the  reverse  of  denarii  of  M'.  Acilius  Glabrio  of  54  B.  C.  Vale- 
tudinis  is  inscribed  on  the  reverse  of  these  coins,  and  salutis  on  the 
obverse.  Cf.  Babelon,  Monnaies  de  la  republique  romaine,  I.  p.  106, 
Grueber,  Coins  of  the  Roman  Republic  in  the  British  Museum,  i.  nos. 
3943-3946. 

18  Cf.  Carcopino,  Journal  des  Savants,  1911,  pp.  459  ff. 

19  Carcopino  states  that  the  father,  and  probably  the  mother,  of  this 
M'.  Acilius  Glabrio  were  from  Ostia.  But  his  father,  who  seems  to 
have  been  M'.  Acilius  Glabrio  Cn.  Cornelius  Severus  who  was  consul  in 
152,  was  apparently  a  native  of  Tibur.  Cf.  Prosopographia  Imperii 
Romani,  n.  57. 

20  This  is  the  opinion  of  A.  W.  Van  Buren,  Berl.  Phil.  Woch.  1911, 
cols.  1390-1391.  For  the  simple  title  Caesar  used  for  Hadrian,  Car- 
copino cites  the  inscription  on  a  brick  stamp,  GIL.  xv  4,  but  the  use 
of  such  a  title  in  the  limited  space  of  a  brick  stamp  is  hardly  a 
parallel  for  the  use  of  Caesar  Augustus  on  a  large  monumental 
inscription. 


THE    CULT    OF    THE    EMPEKOES  51 

form  of  the  inscription  in  which  the  full  cursus  of  Glabrio 
is  not  given  is  an  indication  of  an  early  date.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  inscription  is  a  second  century  restoration  of 
a  dedication  from  the  time  of  Augustus. 

In  only  a  few  instances  is  the  epithet  Augustus  added  to 
the  name  of  a  god,  and  in  no  case  is  it  given  to  one  of  the 
more  important  gods  of  the  city.  Compare  51  [Ann]onam 
Aug.  NS.  1910,  p.  100.  Here.  August,  (found  with  a 
head  of  Hercules).  The  collegia  sometimes  gave  the  epi- 
thet to  their  patron  deities.  Thus  we  hear  of  the  collegium 
Silvani  Aug.,  mensores  frumentarii  Cereris  Aug.  A  patron 
and  members  of  the  corpus  stuppatorum  made  a  dedication 
to  Minerva  Aug.  (44). 

Augustales  and  seviri  Augustales  are  known  in  large  num- 
bers from  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia.21  Here,  as  was  usually 
the  case  elsewhere,  these  offices  were  held  by  freedmen  who 
were  ineligible  to  the  priesthoods  and  municipal  magistra- 
cies. They  formed  an  ordo  Augustalium  22  which  must  have 
been  a  very  important  body  in  the  town.  Its  officers  were 
curator es  and  quinquennales.  The  order  seems  to  have  held 
slaves  who  were  known  as  the  familia  Augustalium  (3»'>7' '  ), 
and  to  have  had  a  treasury  or  area  Augustalium  to  which 
members  sometimes  made  gifts  (367,  431).  There  was  pro- 
bably a  shrine  of  the  genius  sevirum  Augustalium  at  their 
meeting  place.23  Compare  12.  G[enio]  sevirum  !  Augusta- 
lium] Ost[iensium]  A.  Livius  .  .  .  sevir  Augu[stalia  cu- 
ra]tor  annis  [continuis  .  .  .  nom]ine  Liviae. 

Von  Premerstein,  24  who  is  followed  by  Neumann,26  thinks 
that  it  is  possible  to  make  a  distinction  between  the  seviri 

"Lists  are  given  in  CIIj.  xtv  pp.  573-574.  Additional  inscriptions 
are:  Augustalis,  NS.  1910,  p.  187;  sevir  Aug.  BE.  a  136;  Bevir  Aug. 
idem  quinquennalis,  ibid,  vu  1225,  1227;  ix  4fiC;  NS.  L910,  p.  107. 

22  367,  373,  421,  4140. 

28  Cf.  von  Premerstein  s.  v.  Augustales,  Ruggiero,  p.  853. 

2*L.  c.  p.  851. 

MCf.  s.  v.  Augustales,  Pauly-Wissowa. 


52  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Augustales  and  the  Augustales.  Kelyiug  chiefly  upon  the 
inscriptions  of  Ostia  for  his  evidence,  he  holds  that  about 
the  year  142  a.  d.  the  seviri  Augustales  throughout  the 
Empire  were  organized  into  colleges ;  th&.t  in  places  like  Ostia, 
Aquileia,  and  Puteoli,  where  hitherto  only  Augustales  seem 
to  have  been  known,  seviri  appear  and  are  organized  into 
bodies  called  ordines,  collegia,  or  corpora,  which  succeed  the 
Augustales.  He  dates  this  organization  from  evidence  which 
he  claims  to  find  in  the  two  following  inscriptions  of  Ostia : 
8.  Genio  coloniae  Ostiensium  M.  Cornelius  Epagathus, 
curat.  Augustal.  etc.  (consular  date,  141  a:  d.).  33.  T. 
Annius  Lucullus  VIvir  Aug.  idem  qq.  honoratus  26  signum 
Martis  dendrophor.  Ostiensium  d.  d.  dedicavit  (consular 
date,  143).  He  infers  from  the  first  inscription  that  the 
Augustales  were  still  in  existence  in  141,  from  the  second 
that  the  seviri  were  organized  by  143.  He  finds  further 
evidence  for  this  reorganization  in  the  inscription  (360)  : 
Dis  manibus  A.  Grani  Attici  seviri  Augustali  (sic)  adlectus 
inter  primos,  quinquennalis  curator  perpetus.  Kejecting  the 
view  of  Dessau,  who  read  inter  primos  quinquennales,  and 
supposed  that  there  were  different  ranks  among  the  quin- 
quennales, von  Premerstein  thinks  that  Atticus  became  one 
of  the  first  members  of  the  order  when  the  seviri  were  insti- 
tuted about  142. 

An  examination  of  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia  reveals  a  weak 
point  in  the  argument  of  von  Premerstein.  He  assumes  that 
the  phrase  curator  Augustalium  in  no.  8  could  have  been 
used  only  before  the  organization  of  the  seviri,  after  which 
time  the  curator es  were  called  curator es  ordinis  Augusta- 

28  Von  Premerstein,  I.  c,  expands  this  as  VIvir  Aug(ustalis)  idem 
q(uin)q(uennalitate)  honoratus;  curiously  enough,  on  p.  858  where 
he  cites  this  inscription  among  the  inscriptions  of  the  Augustales  and 
seviri  of  Ostia,  he  follows  the  reading  of  Dessau,  sevir  Aug(ustalis) 
idem  quinquennalis.  The  frequency  of  this  phrase  in  inscriptions  of 
Ostia  distinctly  favors  the  latter  reading.  Honoratus,  then,  probably 
refers  to  the  college  of  the  dendrophori,  as  Dessau  has  suggested. 


THE    CULT    OF    THE    EMPEBOBS  M 

Hum.21  Although  there  is  no  other  occurrence  of  curator 
Augustalium  in  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia,  it  is  significant 
that  in  an  inscription  recently  discovered  there  a  sevir  Au- 
gustalis  is  called  curator  eorum,  not  curator  ordinis  eorum 
(NS.  1910,  p.  107).  Moreover,  von  Premerstein,  though 
believing  that  the  reorganization  extended  throughout  the 
Empire,  makes  no  attempt  to  account  for  the  occurrence  of 
the  term  curator  Augustalium  in  an  inscription  of  Puteoli 
of  the  year  165  (CIL.  x  1881).  In  assuming  that  in  the 
phrase  curator  Augustaliwn  the  plural  Augustales  cannot 
refer  to  the  organized  body,  von  Premerstein  is  overlooking 
the  same  usage  in  the  phrases  familia  Augustalium,  area 
Augustalium,  both  of  which  occur  in  inscriptions  of  Ostia 
later  than  143.28  Furthermore  he  neglects  the  evidence  fur- 
nished by  inscriptions  like  367  (182  a.  d.)  and  431  (about 
240),  both  of  wheh  record  gifts  of  seviri  Augustales  to  the 
decuriones  et  Augustales,  who  are  immediately  referred  to 
again  as  ordo  Augustalium.2®  An  examination  of  the  in- 
scriptions brought  together  in  von  Premerstein's  lists 30 
shows  that  Augustales  is  frequently  used  elsewhere  to  refer 
to  the  whole  body,  especially  in  such  phrases  as  decuriones 
et  Augustales,31  area  Augustalium.32  In  view  of  these  facts 
we  must  conclude  that  von  Premerstein  is  not  justified  in 


27  Cf.  421,  431.     The  latter  inscription  is  to  be  dated  about  240. 

28  367   (182  A.  D.),  431   (ca.  240). 

MIn  no.  367  the  body  is  referred  to  as  seviri  Augustales  at  the 
beginning  (1.  3),  as  Augustales  when  combined  with  the  decuriones 
(1.  18),  and  finally  as  ordo  Augustalium   (1.  20). 

10  L.  c.  pp.  857-877. 

"This  phrase  is  very  frequent,  though  in  many  places  where  it  is 
found,  e.  g.  Vibo,  Volceii,  Atina,  Croto,  Petelia,  the  few  inscriptions 
show  no  cas  s  of  seviri.  However  at  Auximum  a  scrir  rt  AugustaU* 
makes  a  gift  to  the  decuriones,  Augustales,  and  coloni.  Cf.  CIL.  ix 
5823.     Cf.  also  CIL.  v  985   (Aquileia),  gift  to  the  Augustales. 

83 Cf.  CIL.  ix  491  (Reate).  Cf.  also  quinquennaUa  Augustalium,  OIL. 
IX  2678,  2685  (Aesernia).  A  sevir  Augustalis  is  mentioned  in  the 
first  inscription,  but  no  Augustales  are  known  from  Aesernia. 


54 


THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


taking  141  as  a  terminus  post  quern  for  the  organization  of 
the  seviri  throughout  the  Empire. 

On  the  other  hand  the  inscriptions  of  Ostia  seem  to  sup- 
port von  Premerstein's  terminus  ante  quern.  Several  of  the 
inscriptions  of  Augustales  and  seviri  may  be  dated  approxi- 
mately by  the  numbers  of  the  lustra  of  the  collegium  fabrum 
tignuariorum.  Dessau  has  shown  that  the  thirty-third  lus- 
trum of  this  college  probably  fell  between  200  and  240  a.  d.33 
By  this  and  other  means  we  are  enabled  to  date  the  following 
inscriptions  that  bear  upon  this  problem: 

299.  Augustalis,  before  90  a.  d.  (2nd  lustrum) 

33.  sevir  Augustalis,  143  (consular  date) 
367.       "  "  182.  "  " 

297.       "  "  160-200    (25«*  lustrum) 

EE.  vn  1227  sevir  Augustalis,  after  179   (dated  from  a 

flamen  divi  Marci) 
418.  sevir  Augustalis,  215-255  (36th  lustrum) 
431.        "  about  240  (dated  from  comparison 

with  352,  432,  and  461). 

From  this  list  it  is  clear  that  Augustalis  as  the  title  for 
an  individual  occurs  on  no  inscription  of  Ostia  which  can 
be  dated  after  the  end  of  the  first  century,  and  that  sevir 
Augustalis  is  first  found  in  a  datable  inscription  in  143, 
and  occurs  frequently  after  that.  The  indications  are  then 
that  the  seviri  were  instituted  and  formed  into  colleges 
between  100  and  143.  The  fact  that  seviri  are  far  more 
numerous  than  Augustales 34  is  in  accord  with  this  con- 
clusion, inasmuch  as  the  number  of  inscriptions  of  the  first 
century  from  Ostia  is  naturally  far  smaller  than  the  n amber 
for  the  suceeding  centuries.  Moreover,  quinquennales  are 
always  seviri,35  that  is,  they  were  not  known,  so  far  as  we 

83  Cf.  Dessau  on  128. 

M  Augustalis  occurs  in  19  inscriptions,  sevir  Augustalis  in  64. 
"The  quinquennales  at  Ostia  are  usually  designated  by  the  phrase 
sevir  Aug(ustalis)   idem  quinquennalis. 


THE    CULT    OF    THE    EMPEKORS  55 

can  tell,  before  the  institution  of  the  seviri.  Von  Premer- 
stein  is  probably  right  in  believing  that  A.  Granius  Atticus 
of  3 GO  was  one  of  the  first  seviri  elected.30 

About  half  of  the  seviri  Augustales  of  the  inscriptions  of 
Ostia  are  also  quinquennales.  The  frequent  occurrence  of 
the  quinquennales  makes  it  seem  probable  that  the  office 
became  purely  honorary,  and  that  the  curatores,  of  whom 
many  are  known,  were  the  real  officers  of  the  order.37  This 
view  is  supported  by  316.  D.  m.  L.  Carullius  Epaphroditus 

VIvir  Aug.  idem  q.  q. Huic  VIviri  Aug.  post  curam 

quinquennalitatem  optuler(unt)  qui  egit  annis  continuis 
IIII.  That  is,  Epaphroditus  was  made  quinquennalis  be- 
cause he  had  been  a  good  curator. 

Two  seviri  of  Ostia  held  the  same  position  at  Tusculum 
(372,  421).  L.  Antonius  Epitynchanus,  quinquennalis  col- 
legi  fabrum  tignuariorum  of  Ostia,  was  sevir  Augustalis  in 
Aquae  Sextiae  (296).  On  the  other  hand,  L.  Numisms 
Agathemerus,  a  negotiator  from  Hispania  citerior,  became 
sevir  Augustalis  at  Ostia  (397). 

Special  public  honors  to  members  of  the  order  at  Ostia 
are  recorded:  318  D.  m.  L.  Carulli  Felicissimi  bis(elliarii) 
VI  [viri]  Aug.  idem  qq.  L(aurentis)  L(avinatis)  qq.  cor- 
[p]or(is)  vin(ariorum)  urb(anorum)  et  Ost(iensium)  etc. ; 
415.  C.  Silio  Epaphrae  L.  Felici  Miori  Augustali  hum-  d. 
f.  p.  efferundum  cens.  Nerva  films  honore  usus  impensam 
remisit  etc.     367.  P.  Horatio   Chryseroti  seviro  Augustal. 

"A  further  sign  of  the  union  of  Augustales  and  seviri  Augustales 
at  Ostia  is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  318  and  possibly  in  431  seriri 
Augustales  are  also  biselliarii,  i.  e.  they  are  entitled  to  the  hisdlium 
which  is  in  general  ths  special  prerogative  of  the  Augustales.  The 
only  other  records  of  seviri  as  biselliarii  are  in  OIL.  ix  3524,  21 

"This  is  the  view  of  Dessau,  CIL.  xiv  p.  5,  and  of  Mourlot,  Hittoire 
de  VAugustaliU,  pp.  117-118.  Von  Premerstein.  however.  (I.  e.  p.  852) 
takes  the  view  of  Schmidt  (De  seviris  Augustalibus,  1878,  p.  85)  that 
the  office  of  quinquennalis  at  Ostia  was  held  not  for  five  yeara  but  for 
one.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  term  quinquennalis  is  susceptible  of 
such  an  interpretation. 


56 


THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


idem  quinq.  et  immuni  Larum  Aug.  ex  s.  c.  seviri  Augustales 
statu  am  ei  ponendam  decreverunt  quod  is  areae  eorum  etc. 

Members  of  the  order  held  office  in  the  collegia:  309.  Dis 
manibus  L.  Calpurnius  Chius  sevir  Aug.  et  quinquennalis 
idem  quinq.  corporis  mensor.  f  rumentarior.  Ostiens.  et  curat, 
bis  idem  codicar.  curat  Ostis,  et  III  honor.,  idem  quin- 
quennal.  collegi  Silvani  Aug.  maioris  quod  est  Hilarionis 
functus  sacomari  idem  magistro  ad  Marte(m)  Ficanum  Aug. 
idem  in  collegio  dendrofor.  fecit  sibi  et  Corneliae  etc. 
Among  the  members  were  quinquennales  of  the  collegium 
fabrum  tignuariorum38  corpus  vinariorum  urbanorum  et 
Ostiensium  (318),  corpus  fabrum  navalium  Ostiensium39 
corpus  treiectus  marmorariorum,40  corpus  mensorum  fru- 
mentariorum  adiutorum  (4140).  In  the  order  was  a  stipu- 
lator argentarius  (405),  and,  if  one  may  judge  from  the 
reliefs  on  the  sarcophagus  of  P.  Nonius  Zetheus,  a  pistor 
(393). 

In  the  case  of  at  least  one  sevir  we  have  evidence  of  an 
interest  in  literature — that  is  if  we  may  suppose  that  Epaph- 
roditus  wrote  his  own  epitaph  in  which  a  line  of  Vergil  is 
quoted: — et  quern  mi  dederat  cursum  fortuna  peregit.41  One 
is  reminded  of  Trimalchio,  the  famous  sevir  of  Petronius. 

38  297,  419;  quinquennalis  magister,  418;  magister  quinquennalis,  299, 
407. 

39  quinquennalis  perpetuus,  372. 

40  patronus  and  quinquennalis,  425.     This  is  the  only  patronus  known 
among  the  Augustales  at  Ostia. 

*  316.  Buechler,  Carm.  Epig.  1105,  cf.  Verg.  Aen.  iv.  653,  vixi  et 
quern  dederat  cursum  fortuna  peregi.     Cf.  Mourlot,  op.  cit.  p.  123. 


CHAPTER  III 

Oriental   Gods 

magna  mater 

In  204  b.  c.  the  ship  which  brought  the  sacred  stone  of 
the  Great  Mother  from  Pessinus  was  met  at  Ostia  by  P. 
Scipio  ISTasica,  who  had  been  chosen  as  the  best  man  of  the 
state,  and  by  the  foremost  Roman  matrons.1  Here,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  occurred  the  dramatic  vindication  of  the 
noble  Claudia  Quinta.2  The  ship  had  grounded  at  the 
river's  mouth  and  all  efforts  to  dislodge  it  were  of  no  avail 
until  Claudia  Quinta,  with  a  prayer  to  the  goddess  to  free 
her  from  the  false  charges  that  had  been  made  against  her, 
came  forward  and  drew  the  boat  up  into  the  stream. 

Although  the  arrival  of  the  sacred  stone  must  have  made 
a  deep  impression  on  the  inhabitants  of  Ostia,  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  the  worship  of  the  Great  Mother  was 
established  at  Ostia  at  that  time.  Her  cult,  introduced  at 
Rome  by  order  of  the  Sibylline  Books  in  order  to  rid  Italy 
of  the  foreign  foe,  was  fostered  chiefly  by  the  state.  1 1  was 
not  until  the  time  of  the  Empire,  when  the  full  Phrygian 
ritual  was  adopted,  that  the  goddess  made  a  strong  appeal 
to  individual  worshipers.  At  Ostia  there  is  no  evidence  for 
the  existence  of  the  cult  before  the  second  century  after 
Christ.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  it  was  established  there 
as  early  as  the  reign  of  Claudius  when  Magna  Mater  seems 

^Showerman,  The  Great  Mother  of  the  Qods,  Bulletin  of  the  PfMWf 
sity  of  Wisconsin,  Philology  and  Literature  Series,  I.  Madison.  1901, 
pp.  225  ff.;  Cumont,  Oriental  Religions  in  Roman  Paganism,  Chicago, 
1911,  p.  47. 

2  Ovid,  Fasti,  IV.  305-330. 

57 


58  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

to  have  been  especially  favored  at  Home.3  There  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  many  votaries  of  the  Phrygian  goddess 
among  the  merchants  who  began  to  come  to  Ostia  after  the 
construction  of  the  Port  of  Claudius,  and  especially  after 
Trajan's  harbor  was  completed. 

The  cult  of  Magna  Mater  and  of  Attis  who  was  worshiped 
with  her  became  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  city.  She 
is  the  only  deity  except  Mithras  who  is  known  to  have  had 
temples  both  at  Ostia  and  at  Portus.  Taurobolia  were  per- 
formed at  both  places.  Inscriptions  give  the  names  of 
numerous  priests  and  devotees  of  the  goddess.  The  sacred 
colleges  which  were  attached  to  her  cult,  the  dendrophori  and 
the  cannophori,  had  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  life  of 
the  colony.  From  no  other  city  outside  of  Rome  is  there 
so  much  valuable  material,  both  epigraphical  and  archaeo- 
logical, for  the  study  of  the  Phrygian  cults  under  the  Roman 
Empire. 

The  temple  of  Magna  Mater  or  the  Metroum  was  dis- 
covered in  the  excavations  of  1867. 4  It  is  situated  about 
200  yards  to  the  south  of  the  '  Capitolium '  and  just  south 
of  the  Via  Laurentina.  It  is  a  small  tetrastyle  prostyle 
structure,  with  a  cella  that  is  almost  quadrangular.  Though 
no  inscriptions  were  found  in  it,  the  finds  in  the  neighbor- 
hood  identify  it   beyond   a  doubt.     Adjoining   it  was   the 

s  The  March  festival  of  the  goddess  seems  to  have  been  recognized 
then,  and  the  cult  may  have  come  under  the  direction  of  the  quin- 
decimviri  at  this  time.  Cf.  Rapp  s.  v.  Kybele,  Roscher,  col.  1669; 
Cumont,  op.  cit.  p.  55.  Cf.  however,  von  Domazewski,  Journal  of  Roman 
Studies,  1911,  p.  56,  who  thinks  that  this  March  festival  was  intro- 
duced by  Claudius  Gothicus.  Wissowa,  Religion  und  Kultus,2  p.  322, 
doubts  whether  the  festival  was  introduced  before  the  end  of  the  second 
century. 

*Cf.  C.  L.  Visconti,  Ann,  dell'Inst.  1868,  pp.  362-413,  1869,  pp.  208- 
245;  Mon,  dell'Inst.  vxn.  Tav.  lx.  The  complete  publication  of  the 
buildings  which  was  promised  by  Visconti  never  appeared.  A  small 
Mithreum  found  near  by  was  thought  by  Visconti  to  have  been  a  place 
for  initiations  into  the  cult  of  Magna  Mater.  See  also  Paschetto,  op. 
cit.  pp.  370-384. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  59 

schola  of  the  dendrophori,  identified  by  an  inscription;  here 
there  were  two  altars,  dedicated  undoubtedly  to  Cybele  and 
to  Attis.  In  a  niche  in  the  schola  was  found  a  seated  statue 
of  Cybele  of  about  half  life  size.  The  head  and  fore-arms 
were  lacking.5  In  front  of  the  temple  was  a  large  quad- 
rangular area,  open  toward  the  temple,  and  shut  in  on  the 
other  sides  by  a  portico  and  by  rooms  opening  on  the  area.6 
The  space  was  never  paved;  the  ancient  level  showed  a 
stratum  of  fine  yellow  sand.  The  fragmentary  inscriptions 
(40,  41)  found  there  suggest  that  the  taurobolia  were  per- 
formed in  this  area,  which  must  have  been  well  adapted  to 
these  sacrifices.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  was  the 
campus  Matris  deum  where  P.  Clodius  Abascantus  erected 
a  statue  of  his  son.  Compare  324.  P.  CI.  P.  f.  Horat.  Aba- 
scantiano  fil.  dulcissimo  P.  CI.  Abascantus  pater  qq.  II. 
corp.  dendrophorum  Ostiens;  (on  another  side)  M.  Antius 
Crescens  Calpurnianus  pontif.  Volk.  et  aedium  sacrar.  sta- 
tuam  poni  in  campo  Matris  deum  infantilem  permisi  VIII. 
Kal.  April.  [Plautiano]  II.  et  Geta  II.  cos.  (203  a.  d.). 
In  this  area  was  found  the  well-known  reclining  statue  of 
Attis,  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  the  best  statue  of  the 
god  in  existence.7  On  its  plinth  is  the  inscription  (38): 
Numini  Attis  C.  Cartilius  Euplus  ex  monitu  deae.  Here 
too  a  bronze  statue  of  Venus,  also  in  the  Lateran  Museum, 
came  to  light.8     Probably  this  statue  was  originally  either 

*Ann.  dell'Inst.  1868,  p.  390;  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  p.  372.  This  statu,' 
does  not  seem  to  be  in  the  Lateran  now.  It  cannot  be  identical  with  a 
colossal  statue  of  Cybele  in  the  Villa  Palca,  which  is  said  to  have 
come  from  Ostia.  Cf.  Matz  and  von  Duhn,  Antike  Bildiverke  in  Rom, 
I.  p.  241,  no.  903. 

•Visconti,  I.  c.  pp.  209  fT. 

'Reproduced  Mon.  dell'Inst.  IX.  Tav.  vm.  a;  Showennan.  op.  oit. 
opposite  p.  288.  Cf.  Helbig,  Fiihrer,  i.  no.  721.  The  statue  ia  par- 
ticularly interesting  because  Attis  is  represented  holding  a  half-moon, 
an  attribute  of  Men,  who  was  often  identified  with  Attis  in  the  Roman 
cult.     Cf.  Cumont,  op.  cit.  p.  62. 

•Helbig,  op.  cit.  I.  no.  720;  Mon.  dell'Inst.  IX.  Tav.  vm. 


60 


THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


in  the  temple,  where  it  may  have  been  dedicated  to  Magna 
Mater,  or  in  the  schola  of  the  dendrophori,  where  statues 
of  Terra  Mater,  Silvanus,  and  Mars  were  placed.9 

Aside  from  the  inscription  on  the  statue  of  Attis,  only  one 
dedicatory  inscription  to  the  Phrygian  gods  has  come  to 
light:  I.  G.  xiv.  913  [deolcri]  aOavdrois  ['Peiy  re  kcu  "Arret] 
flavor  [vpdvvcp]  .10 

A  great  many  names  of  priests,  devotees,  and  temple  atten- 
dants of  the  cult  occur  in  the  inscriptions.  Both  men  and 
women  were  sacerdotes  of  the  goddess.  The  sarcophagus 
of  one  priestess,  which  is  now  in  the  Vatican,11  has  the 
inscription  (371  add.)  :  D.  m.  C.  Iunius  Pal.  Euhodus 
magister  qq.  collegi  fabr.  tign.  Ostis.  lustri  XXI.  fecit  sibi 
et  Metiliae  Acte  sacerdoti  M.  d.  m.  colon.  Ost.  coiug.  sanc- 
tissime.  The  inscribed  tablet  is  on  the  front  of  the  cover 
of  the  sarcophagus.  On  either  side  of  it  lighted  torches 
are  represented  in  relief;  on  the  left  are  a  tympanon  and 
a  lagobolon,  on  the  right,  cymbals  and  a  double  flute,  all 
objects  which  were  used  in  the  worship  of  Magna  Mater. 

Two  sacerdotes  of  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  at  Portus  are 
known  from  a  cippus  which  bears  the  inscription  (429)  : 
L.  Valerius  L.  fil.  Fyrmus  sacerdos  Isidis  Ostens  et  M(atris) 
d(eum)  Trastib.12  fee.  sibi.  The  reliefs  on  this  small 
cippus,  representing  a  pitcher,  two  small  boxes,  a  cock,  an 
hydria,  and  lotus  flowers  refer  to  the  cults  of  both  Isis  and 

8  Cf .  21  add.,  which  records  the  dedication  of  a  statue  of  Venus  to 
Isis  and  Bubastis. 

10  Omitted  by  Cagnat,  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  Cf.  Drexler  s.  v. 
Meter,  Roscher,  col.  2919;  Hepding,  Attis,  seine  Mythen  und  sein  Kult, 
Giessen,  1903,  p.  82. 

11  Museo  Chiaramonti,  179 ;  Amelung,  Sc.  des.  Vat.  Mus.  I.  p.  429, 
Taf.  45;  Altmann,  Architectur  und  Ornamentik  der  antiken  Sarkophage, 
p.  104.     The  reliefs  on  the  sarcophagus  represent  the  myth  of  Alcestis. 

"M(ater)  d(eum)  Tra(n)  stib(erina)  est  eadem  atque  M(ater) 
d(eum)  m(agna)  Port  (us)  Augusti  et  Traiani  Felicis  (n.  408),  ita 
appellata  ab  Ostiensibus  quod  Tiberis  inter  moenia  coloniae  et  Portum 
interfluebat.      ( Dessau. ) 


ORIENTAL    GODS  61 

Magna  Mater.13  Compare  also  408(a)  Salonia  Carpime 
Saloniae  Euterpe  sacerdoti  M.  d.  ra.  Port.  Aug.  et  Traiani 
Felicis  patronae  suae  optimae  bene  merenti  fecit  et  sibi  et 
Salonio  Hermeti  Salonio  Dorae  Saloniae  Tertiae  et  eor.  filis 
pars  dimidia  intrantib.  laeva.  (b)  M.  Cutius  Rusticus 
tibico  (sic)  M.  d.  m.  Portus  Aug.  et  Traiani  Felicis  fecit 
sibi  et  Cutiae  Theodote  et  libertis  libertabusq.  posterisq. 
eorum  pars  dimidia  ad  dextra. 

Archigalli  of  the  colony  are  mentioned  in  three  inscrip- 
tions :   34 elicis  Q.  Caecilius  Fuscus  archi- 

gallus  coloniae  Ostensis  imaginem  Matris  deum  argenteam 
p.  i.  cum  si.  gno  (sic)  Nemeseni 14  kannophris  Ostiensibus 
d.d.  35.  Q.  Caecilius  Fuscus  archigallus  c.  O.  imaginem 
Attis  argentiam  p.  i.  cum  sigillo  frugem  aereo  15  cannophoris 

13  Cf.  Benndorf  and  Schoene,  op.  cit.  pp.  52-53,  Taf.  xvh.  2;  Altmann, 
Die  romischen  Grabaltiire  der  Kaiserzeit,  p.  237,  Fig.  191. 

14  Cum  signo  Nemesem  (for  Nemesis)  indicates  that  Cybele  in  the 
statue  presented  was  represented  holding  a  statuette  of  Nemesis  in 
her  hand.  Similarly,  medallions  of  Smyrna  of  the  time  of  Septimius 
Severus  show  Cybele  holding  in  her  right  hand  two  figurines  which 
represent  the  two  Nemeses  whose  cult  there  was  perhaps  associated 
with  hers.     Cf.  Decharme  s.  v.  Cybele,  Daremberg  and  Saglio,  p.  1687. 

15  Cum  sigillo  frugem  aereo  obviously  corresponds  to  cum  signo 
Nemesem  of  the  preceding  inscription.  C.  L.  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst. 
1868,  p.  393  says  "  Debbe  intendersi  che  Atti  avea,  forse  in  mano,  un 
fascio  di  spighe,  lavorato  in  bronzo,  probabilmente  dorato."  Dessau 
finds  this  explanation  unsatisfactory.  Cumont  s.  v.  Attis,  Ruggiero, 
points  out  that  sigillum  must  mean  a  statuette,  in  contrast  to  imago, 
the  large  statue,  and  thinks  it  probable  that  frugem  is  written  for 
frugis  or  Phrygis,  i.  c.  a  priest  of  Attis.  Cf.  Dionys.  II.  19;  Propertius 
n.  22,  16.  The  scene  would  then  represent  the  priest  worshiping  Attis, 
a  scene  similar  to  that  of  the  woman  of  the  Venetian  Bas-relief.  Cf. 
Roscher,  I.  p.  726.  It  seems  to  me  more  probable  that  Frugem  is  here 
a  personification— a  view  suggested  by  Dessau,  OIL.  xrv  p.  665.  Attis. 
who  was  often  represented  holding  flowers,  fruit,  and  grain  as  in  the 
statue  from  Ostia,  could  very  well  have  been  portrayed  holding  ■ 
statuette  of  Frux.  However,  I  know  of  no  such  representation  of  the 
god.  Unfortunately  the  second  volume  of  Bepding'B  work  on  Attis. 
containing  the  complete  collection  of  the  monuments  for  the  cult,  has 
not  appeared.     Though  there  is  no  evidence  for  the  personification  of 


62  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Ostiensibus  dcmum  dedit.  385  (Small  marble  cista  found 
in  the  area  described  above)  16  M.  Modius  Maxximus  archi- 
gallus  coloniae  Ostiensis.  On  top  of  the  cista  there  is  a 
cock.  To  the  right  of  the  inscription  are  reliefs  of  a  curved 
flute  and  a  pedum;  a  representation  of  a  reed  pipe  breaks 
up  the  letters  of  the  latter  part  of  the  inscription.  Especially 
interesting  because  of  its  bearing  on  the  Attis  myth  is  the 
relief  to  the  left  of  the  inscription,  in  which  Attis  and  the 
lion  of  Cybele  are  represented  among  reeds.17 

An  apparitor  of  the  goddess  at  Ostia  who  was  the  freed- 
man  of  a  priest  (probably  of  Magna  Mater)  is  mentioned 
in  53:  C.  Atilius  Bassi  sacerdotis  lib.  Felix  apparator  M. 
d.  m.  signum  Silvani  dendrophoris  Ostiensibus  d.d.  The 
inscription  of  a  tibicen  of  the  shrine  in  Portus  has  been 
cited. 

The  title  pater,  which  is  frequently  used  to  denote  an 
initiate  in  the  cult  of  Mithras,  occurs  at  Ostia  as  the  name 
of  an  initiate  of  the  Phrygian  cult.  With  it  is  found  also 
the  title  mater.18  Compare  37.  Q.  Domitius  Aterianus 
pat(er)  et  Domitia  Civitas  mat(er)  signum  Attis  cann. 
Ost.  d.  d.      (On  this  base  are  represented  a  syrinx,  a  lituus, 

the  singular  Frux,  the  plural  Fruges,  which  is  more  frequently  used, 
is  personified  in  GIL.  v  3227  ....  elia  sacr.  Frugibus  et  Feminis.  In 
view  of  the  large  number  of  deified  abstractions  known  in  later  Roman 
Religion  the   deification  of  Frux  seems  natural. 

16  C.  L.  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1869,  pp.  240-245;  Hon.  dell' Inst.  IX. 
Tav.  viii  a.  1. 

"Visconti,  I.  c,  finds  in  this  relief  important  evidence  for  the  Attis 
myth.  He  thinks  that  Cybele  finally  found  Attis  hiding  in  thick  reeds 
on  the  banks  of  the  Gallos.  This  would  then  throw  light  on  the  words 
canna  intrat  found  in  the  Fasti  Philocali  for  March  15th  (cf.  GIL.  i." 
p.  260),  and  on  the  institution  of  the  cannophori;  Cumont  s.  v.  Canno- 
phori. Pauly-Wissowa,  says :  "  Die  Cista  aus  Ostia  . .  .  giebt  keinen 
sicheren  Anhaltspunkt.  Es  scheint  jedoch,  dass  das  Cannophorenfest 
an  die  Aussetzung  und  Entdeckung  des  Attis  am  Ufer  des  Gallos 
erinnerte." 

18  Hepding  {op.  cit.  p.  154,  p.  187)  notes  that  pater  and  maier  refer 
h-  re  to  rank  among  the  worshipers  of  the  goddess,  rather  than  to  offices 
among  the  cannophori  or  dendrophori. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  63 

and    a   Phrygian   cap.)      69.    Virtutem   dendrop(horis)    ex 
arg(enti)  p(ondo  duobus)  Iunia  Zosime  mat(er)  d.  d. 

Taurobolia  were  performed  both  at  Ostia  and  at  Portus, 
and  there  is  evidence  for  the  criobolium  also  at  the  former 
place.  One  inscription,  which  comes  either  from  Ostia  or 
from  Portus,  records  the  performance  of  the  taurobolium 
for  an  individual:  39.  Aemilia  Serapias  taurobolium  fecit 
et  aram  taurobolatam  posuit  per  sacerdotes  Valerio  Pan- 
carpo  Idib.  Mais.  Anullino  II.  et  Frontone  cos.  (199  a.  d.). 
Three  fragmentary  inscriptions  record  taurobolia  made  pub- 
licly, probably  in  every  case  by  the  cannophori  for  the 
emperor  and  his  household,  the  senate,  equestrian  order, 
army,  decuriones  of  Ostia  etc:  19  40.  Taurob[olium  factum 
Matri  deum  magn.  Idaeae  pro  salute]  Im[p.  Caesaris]  M. 
Aurel[i  Antonini  Aug.  et]  L.  Aureli  [Commodi  Caes  et] 
Faustina  [e  Aug.  Matris  castro]rum  libe[rorumque  eorum 
senatus  XVvir  s.  f.  equestr.]  ordin.  ex[ercituum  .  .  .  ]  navi- 
gan[tium  .  .  .  ]  decurio[num  20  col.  Ost.  .  .  .  ]  canno[phori 
.  .  .  ]  nat.  .  .in.  .  .  42.  Taurob[olium  factum  Matri  deum] 
magnae  Id[aeae  pro  salute  et  victoria]  Imp.  Caes.  C.  V[ibi 
Treboniani  Galli  Pii]  Fel.  Aug.  et  [imp.  Caes.  C.  Vibi  Afini 
Galli]  Veldum[niani  Vol]usiani  P[ii  Fel.]  Aug.  tot[iu]sq. 
domus  divin.  eor.  [et]  sen[atus  X]V  vir  s.  f.  equestr.  ordin. 
ex[ercituum  .  .  .  .  ]  navigantium  s  ...  43.  Taurobolium  fac- 
tum Matr.  deum  magn.  Idaeae  pro  salut.  et  redit.  et  victor, 
imp.  .  .  .  The  criobolium  seems  to  have  been  performed 
under  the  same  auspices.  Cf.  41.  Crinobolium  factum 
[Matri]  deum  magn.  Ideae  pr[o  salute]  imp.  Cue-.  La  .  .  . 
etc.  These  sacrifices  made  by  the  cmnophori  may  be  com- 
pared with  Apuleius'  report  of  the  prayers  offered  by  the 
pastophori  at  the  time  of  the  festival  of  Isis  in  Kenchreai.21 

10  Cf.  Dessau,  s.  40-43.  On  the  taurobolium  Bee  Wissowa,  Religion 
und  Kultus,2  pp.  323^325. 

20  Sacra  faciunt  cannophori ;   fortassc  decurionum  quoque  mentio 

eo,  non  ad  formulam  voti,  pertinet  (Dessau). 

"Apuleius,  Mctam.  xi.  17.     See  p.  71.  n.  20. 


64  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Taurobolia  at  Portus,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  to  have 
been  performed  under  the  direction  of  the  archigallus  of 
Rome,  probably  on  the  occasion  of  the  departure  of  an  em- 
peror from  there.22  Cf.  Ulpian,  De  Excusationibus.23  Is 
qui  in  portu  pro  salute  imperatoris  sacrum  facit  ex  vati- 
cinatione  archigalli  a  tutelis  excusatur.  We  have  seen  that 
Magna  Mater  is  the  only  deity  except  Mithras  who  is  known 
to  have  had  temples  both  at  Ostia  and  at  Portus.  It  is 
possible  that  her  shrine  at  Portus,  with  which  an  area  like 
the  campus  at  Ostia  for  the  performance  of  taurobolia  was 
probably  connected,  was  established  as  a  place  for  sacrifices 
in  honor  of  the  emperors. 

The  finds  at  Ostia  show  clearly  the  close  relation  of  the 
dendrophori  and  the  cannophori  with  the  cult  of  Magna 
Mater.24  Immediately  adjoining  the  rear  of  the  temple  of 
the  goddess  there  is  a  large  irregular  room  of  almost  trape- 
zoidal shape  which  is  identified  as  the  schola  of  the  dendro- 
phori  by  the  inscription  of  late  third  century  date,  (45)  : 
Numini  domus  Aug.  d[endrophori  Ostien]ses  scolam  quam 
sua  pecunia  constit  [uerant  novis  sum]ptibus  a  solo  [resti- 
tuerunt].25  Along  the  walls  of  the  room,  except  on  the  side 
toward  the  Metroum,  is  a  stone  bench  spacious  enough  to 
provide  seating  capacity  for  fifty  members  of  the  college. 
In  the  centre  of  the  room  there  were  two  altars,  used,  no 
doubt,  for  sacrifices  to  Attis  and  Cybele.26  This  schola 
must  have  been  adorned  with  the  statues  of  various  gods 

22  Cf .  Dessau,  I.  c. 

23  Fragmenta  Vaticana,  148. 

24  Cf.  Cumont  s.  v.  cannophori,  dendrophori,  Pauly-Wissowa,  and  s.  v. 
cannophorus,  Ruggiero;  Aurigemma  s.  v.  dendrophorus,  ibid.  For  a  new 
theory  of  the  origin  of  the  dendrophori  see  von  Domazewski,  I.  c.    p.  53. 

23  Cf.  Hepding,  op.  cit.  p.  154,  on  the  connection  of  the  dendrophori 
with  the  imperial  cult  in  the  later  period.  Cf.  also  Aurigemma,  I.  c. 
p.  1704. 

26  Cf.  Visconti,  I.  c.  pp.  385  ff.;  Aurigemma,  I.  c.  p.  1679.  For  plan 
see  Hon.  dell'Inst.  viu.  Tav.  lx.  B;  De  Marchi,  II  culto  privato  di 
Roma  antica,  n.  Tav.  VI. 


OEIENTAL   GODS  65 

which  are  known  to  have  been  presented  to  the  dendrophori 
by  members  of  their  body  and  by  devotees  of  Cybele. 
Inscriptions  record  gifts  of  statues  of  Silvanus  (53),  Terra 
Mater  (67),  Mars  (33),  and  Virtus  (69),  to  the  college. 
It  is  not  fair,  however,  to  assume  from  the  fact  that  these 
statues  were  presented  to  the  dendrophori  that  all  these  gods 
were  worshiped  by  the  college.  Although  Terra  Mater,  who 
was  sometimes  identified  with  Cybele,27  and  Silvanus  were 
certainly  worshiped  by  them,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  such  was  the  case  with  Mars  and  Virtus.  Aurigemma  28 
suggests  that  these  gods  may  have  been  the  special  protectors 
,of  the  persons  who  dedicated  statues  of  them,  or  that  the 
statues  may  have  been  given  simply  to  adorn  the  schola. 
Statues  of  the  emperors  seem  also  to  have  stood  there.  The 
bases  of  statues  of  Antoninus  Pius  (97)  and  Lucius  Verus 
(107)   have  been  found. 

Seven  inscriptions  of  the  cannophori  came  to  light  in  a 
niche  of  this  schola  in  the  substructures  of  the  temple. 
Since  the  cannophori  are  known  from  an  inscription 20  to 
have  had  a  schola  of  their  own,  it  seems  probable  that  these 
inscriptions  had  been  removed  from  it.  Two  of  them  are 
on  bases  made  for  statues  of  emperors.30  Two  others  record 
the  presentation^  the  cannophori  of  statues  of  Magna  Mater 
and  Attis  by  Q.  Caecilius  Fuscus,  archigallus  of  the 
colony.31  A  second  statue  of  Attis  was  presented  by  two 
devotees  of  the  Phrygian  gods  who  bore  the  titles  pater  and 
mater  (37).  A  gift  of  another  statue  of  Cybele  is  recorded 
in  36:   Calpurnia  Chelido  typum  Matris  deum  argenti  p. 

27  Cf.  Graillot,  Melanges  Perrot,  p.  142,  n.  7-9.  Aurigemma,  I.  c. 
p.   1678,  seems  not  to  know  of  this  identification. 

28  Ruggiero,  I.  c. 

29  Cf.  285.     Dessau  suspects  the  authenticity  of  this  inscription. 

30  116,  117.     Cf.   118,  119. 

81 34,  35.  Cumont  s.  v.  cannophorus,  Ruggiero,  suggests  that  the 
priests  of  Cybele  and  Attis  may  have  held  a  place  among  the  cannophori. 


66  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

II.  cantnoforis  Ost.  d.  d.  et  dedicabit.32  We  have  already 
seen  that  public  taurobolia  were  performed  at  Ostia  by  the 
cannophori. 

In  studying  the  evidence  for  these  two  colleges,  one  is 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  statues  of  the  Phrygian  gods  only 
were  presented  to  the  cannophori,,  while  the  dendrophori 
received  statues  of  other  gods.  Perhaps  the  explanation  lies 
in  the  difference  between  the  two  colleges;  the  dendrophori 
seem  to  have  been  a  college  that  combined  professional 
with  religious  purposes,  while  the  cannophori  had  a  purely 
religious  organization. 


EGYPTIAN    GODS 

The  earliest  known  shrines  of  Egyptian  gods  in  Italy, 
the  Sarapewn  of  Puteoli  and  the  I  sewn  of  Pompeii,  date 
from  the  second  century  b.  c.1  The  worship  was  probably 
introduced  at  Eome  from  ports  of  Southern  Italy.  As  early 
as  59  b.  c.  there  were  many  devotees  of  Isis  in  Rome,2  and 
the  sacred  college  of  the  pastophori  traced  its  origin  to  the 
time  of  Sulla.3  But  merchants  from  Egypt  seem  not  to 
have  been  attracted  to  Ostia  in  large  numbers  before  the 
port  of  Claudius  was  built.  Indeed  the  fleet  which  brought 
grain  from  Egypt  to  Italy  (classis  Alexandrina)  probably 
docked  regularly  at  Puteoli  until  the  port  of  Trajan  was 
completed.4  Later  this  fleet,  which,  at  least  in  the  early 
third  century,  was  manned  by  Alexandrians,  brought  many 

32Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1868,  p.  395,  notes  that  typus  is  used  to 
refer  to  the  sacred  stone  of  the  goddess  which  was  brought  from 
Pessinus  (cf.  Vita  Heliogab.  3,  4),  and  suggests  that  Calpurnia  gave 
a  facsimile  of  the  sacred  stone  to  the  cannophori. 

1  Cf.  Dubois,  op.  cit.  pp.  148  f. 

2  Cf.  Wissowa,  Religion  und  Kultus,2  p.  351. 

3  Cf.  Apuleius,  Metam.  XI.  30. 

4  Cf.  Seneca,  Ep.  77,  1 ;  Marquardt,  Privatleben  der  Romer,  p.  400. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  67 

worshipers  of  Isis  and  Sarapis  to  Portus.  A  Sarapeum  was 
established  at  Portus  by  Alexandrians,  and  modelled  after 
the  great  sanctuary  of  the  god  at  Alexandria.  Its  datable 
monuments  belong  to  the  early  third  century  after  Christ. 
Isis,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a  temple  at  Ostia  where  she 
may  have  been  worshiped  as  a  goddess  of  the  sea  before 
there  was  much  direct  intercourse  between  Ostia  and  Egypt. 

The  worship  of  Isis  and  Sarapis  was,  as  always,  closely 
related  at  Ostia  and  Portus.  We  find  at  Ostia  dedications 
to  Sarapis,  and  evidence  for  the  existence  of  a  small  shrine 
of  Isis  at  Portus.  Bubastis,  another  Egyptian  goddess, 
shares  with  Isis  one  dedication  from  Ostia.  The  monu- 
ments indicate  that  the  Egyptian  gods  were  most  important 
at  the  port  during  the  late  second  and  early  third  centuries, 
just  when  their  worship  was  at  its  height  at  Rome. 

Isis.  That  the  Iseum,  which  has  not  been  definitely  lo- 
cated,5 was  at  Ostia  is  proved  by  the  title  of  the  priests  of 
the  goddess — sacerdos  Isidis  Ostiensis.  Compare  429.  L. 
Valerius  L.  fil.  Fyrmus  sacerdos  Isidis  Ostens.  et  M.  D. 
Trastib.  fee.  sibi.6     437.  D.  [m.]  M.  Ulpi  Faed[imi  sacer]- 

dotis  Isi[dis  Ost  ?]  etc.     EE.  ix  474.     D]  in tiani 

decur.  Ost.    [omnib.  hon]or.  funct.  Sal.  L.  L lie 

maioris  [sacerdo]s  Isidis  Ost.  [incomp]arabilissimo.  Com- 
pare also  EE.  ix  471.  Another  priest,  probably  of  the  same 
temple,  has  the  title  sacerdos  sanctae  reginae:  352  a.  D. 
Fabio  D.  filio  Pal.  Floro  Veraiio  sacerdot.  saint.   reg[in] 

5  Paschetto  (op.  cit.  p.  401)  notes  that  a  number  of  objects  haying 
to  do  with  the  cult  of  Isis  were  found  in  the  region  between  the 
so-called  temple  of  Vulcan  and  the  river,  and  suggests  thai  the  temple 
of  the  goddess  is  to  be  sought  in  that  vicinity.  He  enumerates  two 
inscriptions  (20,  21),  a  statue  of  a  kneeling  postophoroa  (present 
whereabouts  unknown),  a  sculptured  pilaster  with  l<>tn^  leaves  >>n  it, 
now  in  the  Lateran  (Benndorf  and  Schoene,  op.  cit.  no.  548),  and  some 
small  fragments  of  sculpture  of  Egyptian  stylo. 

°It  is  noteworthy  that  Fyrmus  was  priest  of  Magna  Mater  at  Portus. 
The  reliefs  on  his  monuments  represent  objects  connected  with  the  cults 
of  both  Cybele  and  Isis.     Cf.  Drexler  s.  v.  Isis,  Roscher,  col.  443. 


68  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

iudicio  maiestatis  eius  elect.  Anubiaco  prima  dec.  Laur.  vie. 
Aug.  Quattervi  naviculario  V.  corpor.  lenuncularionmi  Ost. 
honorib.  ac  munerib.  omnib.  funct.  sodali  corp.  V.  region, 
col.  Ost.,  huic  statuam  Flavius  Moschylus  v.  c.  Isiacus  huius 
loci  memor  eius  sanctimoniae  castitat.  testament,  suo  costi- 
tui  ab  heredib.  suis  iussit  patrono  munditiario  etc. 

It  was  probably  a  priest  of  the  main  sanctuary  who  with 
some  initiates  restored  a  megaron  in  Portus.  Lanciani  has 
shown  that  the  megaron,  known  only  here  in  the  cult  of  Isis, 
was  probably  an  underground  sanctuary  designed  for  the 
celebrations  of  the  mysteries  of  the  goddess.7     Compare  18. 

[Pr]o  salute  imp.  Caes p.  f.  Aug.  Camurenius 

verv.  sac.  deae  Isidis  cap.  ced.  et  ceteri  [Isi]aci  magar.  de 
suo  restitu.  19.  Voto  succe[pto]  Calventia  Severina  et  Au- 
relia  Severa  nepos  megarum  ampliaverunt. 

From  no  other  place  are  there  so  many  inscriptions  of 
devotees  and  initiates  of  the  cult  of  Isis  and  other  Egyptian 
gods.  Most  frequent  are  the  Isiaci  who,  though  known  from 
numerous  references  in  Latin  literature,8  are  rarely  men- 
tioned in  inscriptions  elsewhere.9  They  were  initiates  of 
the  cult  who  were  sometimes  in  charge  of  a  small  shrine. 
Thus  Flavius  Moschylus  v.  c.  mentioned  in  352  is  Isiacus 
huius  loci.  The  name  of  one  Isiaca  is  known.10  The  reliefs 
on  the  sepulchral  inscription  of  Flavia  Caecilia  seem  to 
indicate  that  she  too  was  an  Isiaca,  or,  at  any  rate,  that 

'  Bull,  deirinst.  1868,  pp.  228  ff.  Lanciani  points  out  that  the  word 
megaron  is  frequently  used  to  denote  an  underground  sanctuary  where 
the  mysteries  of  Demeter  and  Persephone  were  performed.  The  use 
of  the  word  megaron  here  in  the  cult  of  Isis  furnishes  additional 
evidence  for  the  familiar  identification  of  Isis  with  Demeter.  Cf. 
Drexler,  I.  c. 

sCf.  Suet.  Dom.  1;  Val.  Max.  vn.  3,  8;  Pliny,  E.  N.  xxvii.  53;  Min. 
Felix  22.  1. 

9  Isiaci  at  Ostia:  18,  343,  352,  EE.  vn  1194.  They  are  known  also 
at  Pompeii.     Cf.  CIL.  rv  787,  1011. 

10  302.     Other  Isiacae,  CIL.  VI  1780;  n  1611. 


ORIENTAL   GODS  69 

she  made  sacrifices  to  Isis.11  Anubiaci,  or  attendants  who 
carried  the  image  of  the  dog-headed  Anubis  in  festivals  of 
the  Egyptian  gods,  also  very  rarely  mentioned  in  inscrip- 
tions,12 are  found  at  Ostia.  A  Bubastiaca,xz  or  initiate  of 
the  cult  of  Bubastis,  completes  the  list  of  these  devotees  of 
the  Egyptian  gods.  The  entire  absence  of  evidence  for 
pastophori  is  strange.  In  view  of  the  prominence  of  the 
sacred  colleges  connected  with  the  worship  of  Magna  Mater, 
we  should  expect  to  find  similar  organizations  in  the  cult 
of  Isis.  It  is  possible  that  the  discovery  of  the  temple  of 
the  goddess  will  prove  the  existence  of  this  college. 

Dedications  from  Ostia  give  further  evidence  for  the  cult 
of  Isis.  In  a  pro  salute  inscription  (20),  she  is  invoked 
together  with  Sarapis,  Silvanus,  and  the  Lares.14  A  frag- 
mentary inscription  groups  her  with  Sarapis:  EE.  ix  435 
Duo  v[ir]  Isi  et  S[erapi  ta]bernas.  In  another  case  she 
is  grouped  with  Bubastis:  21  add.  Isidi  Bubas[ti]  Ve- 
ner(em)  arg(enteam)  p(ondo  unum  semissem)  cor(onam) 
aur(eam)  p(ondo  uncias  tres  scriptula  tria),  cor(onam) 
anal(empsiacam)  p(ondo  uncias  quinque  scriptula  octo) 
Caltil(ia)  Diodora  Bubastiaca  testamento  dedit.15  Compare 
also  EE.  vii  1194.  P.  Cornelius  P.  f.  Victorious  Isiacus 
et  Anubiacus  et  decurialis  scriba  librarius  col.  Ost.  signum 
Martis  cum  equiliolo  Isidi  reginae  restitutrici  salutis  suae 
d.  d. 

11  1044.  Flaviae  Caeciliae  et  Q.  [MJaeci  Iuve[nlalis.  The  inscrip- 
tion is  written  on  a  terra  cotta  epistyle.  To  the  left  of  the  name  of 
Flavia  Caecilia  are  reliefs  of  a  bull,  a  sistrum,  and  a  basket  of  fruit: 
to  the  right,  a  bull,  a  sistrum,  and  a  situla  on  which  there  is  a  bust, 
probably  of  Harpocration.     Cf.  Benndorf  and  Schoene,  op.  cit.  p.  386. 

u352.  EE.  vn  1194.  Found  also  at  Nemausus,  CIL.  X'H  3043.  The 
title  is  equivalent  to  Anuboforus,  which  occurs  at  Vienna.  OIL.  xn  1010. 
Anubis  seems  to  have  had  no  separate  worship  here,  but  to  have  been 
honored  with  the  other  Egyptian  gods, 

"21.     Found  also  at  Rome,  CIL.  vi  3880  =  32464. 

"Quoted  p.  39. 

15  Cf.  Marucchi,  II  Museo  Egiziano  Yaticano,  p.  313. 


70  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

Inscriptions  give  no  information  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
worship  of  Isis  at  Ostia.  We  do  not  even  know  certainly 
whether  she  was  worshiped  in  her  temple  there  as  goddess 
of  the  sea.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  she  was  so  wor- 
shiped, since  this  aspect  of  the  goddess  was  common  else- 
where, and  since  the  annual  festival  of  the  Romans  which 
emphasized  this  side  of  her  cult  was  apparently  celebrated 
at  the  harbor. 

This  state  festival,  known  as  navigium  Isidis,  marked  the 
opening  of  the  sea  for  navigation  in  the  spring.  It  is  re- 
corded under  the  date  March  fifth  in  the  Menologia  Rustica 
and  in  the  Fasti  Philocali  16  and  is  frequently  mentioned  in 
the  later  literature  of  the  Empire.17  The  most  important 
part  of  the  celebration  was  the  launching  of  a  ship  dedicated 
to  the  goddess.  While  there  is  no  direct  evidence  to  enable 
us  to  determine  where  this  festival  took  place,  it  is  probable 
that  the  Romans  celebrated  it  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber. 
We  have  seen  that  they  went  to  Ostia  to  sacrifice  to  Castor 
and  Pollux  as  gods  of  the  sea,  and  it  is  natural  that  Isis 
as  goddess  of  the  sea  should  also  have  been  honored  there. 
Compare  Lyd.  De  Mens,  iv  32.  Trj  irpo  rpiiov  Ncovcov 
MapTicou  6  7rXot)<?  tt}?  "Io-t8o<?  iireTeXelro,  ov  eVt  teal  vvv 
reXovvres  /caXovai  7r\oia(j>eai,a  •  rj  Se  'let?  ttj  Aojvtttkov 
<\><ovr)  iraXaia  o-rjfjLatveTai,  rovreariv  7]  <re\r)vr]  •  /cal  irpoo-'qKovTOi'i 
avrrjv  ti/moxtiv  ivap^ofMevoi  roiv  dakaTTicov  ohoiv.  Apuleius 
gives  us  a  very  minute  description  of  the  celebration  of 
this  festival  at  Kenchreai.18  A  splendid  procession  of  wor- 
shipers, initiates,  and  priests  went  to  the  sea,  and  there  a 
beautiful  ship,  adorned  with  emblems  of  the  goddess,  was 
dedicated  by  the  chief  priest,  laden  with  rich  gifts,  and 
launched.  Apuleius  describes  the  elaborate  procession.  It 
was  led  by  women  clad  in  white  garments,  some  of  whom 

18  Cf.  GIL.  i,a  p.  311;  Wissowa,  op.  cit.,  p.  354. 

"Cf.  Lactant.  I.  11.  21;  Auson.  De  Fer.  24;  Veget.  iv.  39. 

"Apuleius,  Metam.  xi.  8-17. 


ORIENTAL,   GODS  7  1 

scattered  flowers  and  balsam.  Then  followed  a  large  number 
of  devotees  of  the  goddess,  both  men  and  women,  carrying 
lamps  and  torches.  Pipers  and  flute-players  and  a  chorus 
of  youths  preceded  the  initiates.  Temple  attendants  and 
priests  of  the  goddess,  bearing  sacred  symbols  and  images 
of  the  gods,  completed  the  procession.  We  can  imagine  a 
similar  celebration  at  Ostia.19  The  yearly  recurrence  of 
such  a  festival  may  account  for  the  fact  that  more  devotees 
of  the  Egyptian  gods  are  known  from  the  inscriptions  of 
Ostia  than  from  any  other  place.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
image  of  Anubis  was  carried  in  the  procession  at  Kenchreai. 
At  Ostia  the  Anubiaci  whose  names  we  know  probably  car- 
ried the  image  on  similar  occasions.20 

Additional  evidence  that  Isis  was  regarded  as  goddess  of 
the  sea  at  Ostia  is  perhaps  afforded  by  a  small  bronze  lamp 
and  a  wall-painting.  In  the  recent  excavations  near  the 
baths  a  hanging  lamp  in  the  form  of  a  ten-beaked  ship  came 
to  light.21  On  its  flat  top  are  reliefs  representing  Isis, 
Sarapis,  and  Harpocration.  The  lamp  may  have  been  a 
votive  offering  to  the  goddess.  The  wall-painting,  which 
was  discovered  on  the  Via  Lanrentina  just  outside  Ostia, 
represents  Mercury  standing  beside  a  ship  which  is  being 

"Dieterich  (Sommertag,  p.  37))  has  made  the  interesting  suggestion 
that  a  painting  from  a  tomb  near  Ostia  (now  in  the  Vatican  Library) 
may  represent  the  navigium  Isidis.  Cf.  Nogara,  Antiohi  \ffn  .*<■),;  ,1,1 
Vaticano  e  del  Laterano,  pp.  76-77,  PI.  xr.ix.  The  scene  represents  the 
preparation  for  a  festival  in  which  a  ship  is  to  be  drawn  on  a  carl 
by  two  boys.  In  the  absence,  however,  of  any  of  the  distinctive  em- 
blems of  the  cult  of  Isis,  it  is  impossible  to  come  to  any  definite 
conclusion   in   the   matter. 

80  According  to  Apuleius,  ch.  17,  after  the  launching  of  the  Baored 
ship,  the  procession  made  its  way  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess  wliere 
prayers  were  said  by  a  scribe  of  the  pastophori—prinripi  vuinn<>  ama- 
tuique  ct  equiti  totoque  Romano  populo,  nnufins  narihus  quatque  Stti 
imperio  mundi  nostratis  reguntur.  The  similarity  of  this  prayer  to  the 
form  of  the  records  of  taurobolia  made  by  the  cannophori  has  been 
noted  above. 

nNS.  1909,  p.  119,  Fig.  2;  Arch.  Anz.  1910,  col.  180. 


72  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

loaded,  apparently  with  grain.  At  the  stern  are  written  the 
words  (2028)  Isis  Giminiana,  unquestionably  the  name  of 
the  boat,  which  may  have  been  a  river  craft  used  for  trans- 
porting grain  from  Ostia  to  Rome.22  Names  of  gods  who 
bad  no  special  powers  over  the  sea  were,  however,  so  often 
given  to  ships  that  the  name  of  this  ship  cannot  be  con- 
sidered as  strong  evidence  for  the  worship  of  Isis  at  Ostia 
as  goddess  of  the  sea.23 

Sarapis.  Greek  inscriptions,  two  of  which  are  certainly 
of  the  period  of  the  Severi,  prove  the  existence  of  a  Sarapeum 
of  considerable  importance  at  Portus: 

IG.  XIV  914:  'T7T€/?]  ctcott]  [peas']  .  .  .  Mdpicov  kvprjklov 
^eovrjpov  '  AXei;dv8po(v)  Eutu^oO?  Euo-e/3o{)<?  ^ef3{aarov)  /cal 
'IouXta?  [Ma/icua?]  1,e/3ao-Tf}<;  firjTpbs  Hef3(acrTov)  Aa  'H\ig> 
Ix&ydXa)  Sa/jaVtSt  icai  rots  crvvvdois  Oeols  M.  Avpi]Xio<;  "Hpeov 
vecoicopos  tov  iv  Yloprcp  'LapdiriSos,  eiri  Aapyivia)  BetraXtwi/t 
ap%ivTrr)peT7)  /cal  KafieivevTrj  /cat  AvprjXiay'FjCptjfio)  real  2  [a]  Xcovia) 
®e  [o]  Soto)  lepocpoivois  koL  Kafieivevral  [9  /c]  at(?)r^  iepoSovXeia, 
avedrjKev  errr  ayadep.  (On  another  side)  eV  ayadat  •  eVl 
Tpavlov  'Pft)/ia[vo0?].24 

Ibid.  915  :  Au  'HXiqi  /j,e<ydXa)  "^apdirihi  Kal  toIs  avvvdois 
deols  to  KpT]7ri8eiov,  Xa/JLirdSa  apyvpav,  /3co/jlov<;  rpeis, 
TroXvXv%vov,  dv/juarripiov  evirvpov,  fiddpa  Svo  A,  Kao-crto? 
Eutv%?79,  veooKopo?  tov  fxeydXov  ^apdirihos,  virep  eu^aptcrna? 
avedqiceu  eir'  ayz9a>.  Permissu  C.  ISTasenni  Marcelli  pontificis 
Volcani  et  aedium  sacrarum  et  Q.  Lolli  Rufi  Chrysidiani  et 
M.  Aemili  Vitalis  Crepereiani  Iluir.25 

22  Now  in  the  Vatican  Library.  Cf.  C.  L.  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst. 
1866,  p.  323,  Tav.  d'Agg.  T;  Nogara,  op.  tit.  PI.  xlvi. 

a  Lucian,  TlXotov  $  evxal,  describes  a  large  grain  ship  called  Isis, 
which  had  been  blown  from  its  course  on  the  way  from  Alexandria  to 
Rome,  and  had  put  in  finally  at  the  Peiraeus.  The  name  Isis  was  also 
given  to  ships  in  the  Roman  navy,  cf.  E.  Ferrero  s.  v.  classis,  Ruggiero. 

24  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  I.  389.  The  provenance  of  this  in- 
scription and  of  the  following  one  is  uncertain,  but  there  is  no  reason 
for  placing  them  under  Ostia,  as  Kaibel  and  Cagnat  do.  They  more 
probably  come  from  Portus. 

^Ibid.  390;  GIL.  xiv  47. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  73 

Ibid.  916:  Ail  'HXieo  /xeydXay  ^[ap^a7ri8i  teal  T0Z9  o"i>[z/]- 
yaoi?  deols  rov  deofyiXdcnaTov  7ra[7T7r]oi/  M.  Avp.  ^.ap- 
[a]7r<.W  TraXaicrTT]?  7rapd8o^o<i  crvv  ra>  irarpX  M.  Avp.  Arj- 
[fijrjTpico  to)  [/ca]  I  ['A]/37ro«/oa[T]  icovi,  (3o  [u]  Xevry  -n/? 
Xap-TrpoTaTT}1;  7ro'A.ea><>  ro)v  '  AXe^avSpe'oov  ev^d/xevoi  KaX  ev 
Tv^ovres   dve6r)icap.ev  eV    ayadw. — Xpvadvdiva.26 

Ibid.  917  :27  "Tirep  cra>Tripia<i  Kal  inawSov  KaX  al8iov 
Stafiovris  to)v  Kvpiwv  avroKpar6p{u>v)  ^.eovripov  KaX  'Avtco- 
vivov  teal  'lovXias  ^e/3(ao~T?}?)  KaX  rov  avvrravTos  avrcov  oXkov 
KaX  inrep  einrXoia<;  iravro^  rov  cnoXov  ttjv  'ASpdariav 2S  crvv 
tg>  TrepX  avTrjv  Koafxa)  T.  OvaXepios  'S.eprivo^  v€a>Kopo<;  rov 
p,€<ydXov  ^a/3a7Ti8o?,  6  eVt/ieX^T?)?  iravrb<i  rov  ' AXe^avhpeivov 
crroXov,   iirX  KX.    'lovXiavov  kirdpyov  evdeveias. 

Ibid.  919:  "2,epr)vo<;  St^t'Sto?  6  KpdTLaTO<i  veooKopos  eV  rcov 
ISioov  ave0i]Ka.29 

Ibid.   929  :    %eprjvo<i   veoKopos  ave'drjKev.30 

Ibid.   921  :   Sepijvos   6   TrpeafivTaros   vecoKopos    avedrjKa?1 

Another  neocorus  of  this  temple  is  mentioned  in  the 
Latin  inscription,  probably  from  Portus:  188.    [Dis  mani- 

*>  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  381.  Cf.  Gatti,  Bull.  com.  1886,  pp. 
173-180.     This  inscription  was  found  at  Portus. 

"  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  380.  This  inscription  dates  from  201 
when  Septiraius  Severus  and  his  train  returned  to  Syria  from  Egypt. 
It  was  found  at  Fiumicino. 

J8  Usually  written  Adrasteia.  She  was  a  Phrygian  goddess  who  from 
the  time  of  Antimachos  was  identified  with  Nemesis.  Cf.  Tilmpel,  B.  v. 
Adrasteia,  Pauly-Wissowa.  Nemesis  was  identified  with  Isis,  especially 
at  Delos.  Cf.  Drexler  s.  v.  Isis,  Roscher,  cols.  543  ff.  The  statue  dedi- 
cated to  Sarapis  by  Serenus  must  have  represented  Isis  as  an  avenging 
goddess.  The  only  mention  of  Adrasteia  in  Latin  inscriptions  occurs 
in  a  dedication  to  the  goddess  (whose  name  is  again  written  Adrastia) 
which  Steuding  s.  v.  Adrastia,  Roscher,  and  Ruggiero  B.  v.  refer  to 
some  local  goddess.  Since  the  cult  of  Nemesis  existed  in  Dacia  (cf. 
Rossbach  s.  v.  Nemesis,  Roscher,  col.  130),  it  is  more  probable  that 
Adrastia  is  here  simply  a  name  for   Nemesis. 

"Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  i.  3S4.     Found  at  Portus. 

M  Ibid.  391.     Found  at  Ostia. 

"Of  uncertain  origin,  but  probably  from  Portus.  Quoted  by  Cagnat, 
a.  391. 


74  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

bus]  .  .  item  leg.  Ill  I[tal.  scribae]  32  aed.  cur.  sacerd. 
bidentali.  neocori  Iovis  magni  Sarap.  Fundania  P.  f.  Pris- 
cilla  marito  optimo  et  sibi  fecit. 

Dessau  has  proved  from  these  inscriptions  that  the  Sara- 
peum at  Portus  was  modelled  on  the  great  sanctuary  of  the 
god  at  Alexandria.33  It  will  be  noticed  that  a  senator 
from  Alexandria  made  one  of  the  dedications,  and  that 
Serenus,  who  seems  to  have  been  in  charge  of  the  Alexan- 
drian fleet,  was  neocorus,  apparently  at  Portus.  The  form 
of  address  of  the  god  used  in  these  dedications,  Zew  "HXto? 
fieyas  %dpa7rt^,3i  and  the  title  of  the  priests,  vecoKopos  tov  fxejdXov 
'$apa.7n8o<;)  35  are  identical  with  those  that  occur  in  the  in- 
scriptions of  Alexandria.  The  title  lep6(f)covo<;  is  also  found 
among  the  titles  of  the  temple  attendants  of  both  sanctu- 
aries.36 Moreover  the  use  of  Greek  in  all  the  inscriptions 
relating  to  the  Sarapeum  at  Portus,  except  in  one  sepulchral 
inscription,  is  most  easily  explained  through  the  close  rela- 
tionship of  the  shrine  at  this  harbor  with  the  great  Alex- 
andrian temple.  Shipmasters  from  Alexandria,  who  seem 
to  have  had  entire  charge  of  the  transport  of  grain  from 
Egypt  to  Portus,  probably  established  and  supported  the 
Sarapeum  there.37  The  many  temple  attendants  indicate 
that  the  temple  must  have  been  very  important  in  the  early 
part  of  the  third  century.38 

raThis  is  the  reading  of  Villefosse,  quoted  by  Dessau,  EE.  rx  p.  335. 

83  Bull.  dell'Inst.  1882,  pp.  152  ff.  Cf.  s.  CIL.  XIV  47,  and  Mommsen, 
Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire,  II.  p.  279  and  n.  2;  Gatti,  I.  c. 

34  Cf.  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  I.  1049,  1050  =  CIG.  4683. 

85  Cf.  IG.  xiv  1102-1104,  for  inscriptions  of  neocori  of  the  Alexandrian 
shrine  found  at  Rome. 

34  Cf.  CIG.  4864  =  Dittenberger,  Orientis  Graecae  inscriptiones  selectae, 
n.  699. 

"Gatti,  I.  c.  p.  176,  believes  that  the  megaron  of  Portus  whose 
restoration  by  Isiaci  is  recorded  was  a  part  of  the  Sarapeum  of  Portus. 
However  the  use  of  Latin  in  the  inscriptions  militates  against  the  view. 

38  A  leg  of  a  tripod  made  of  red  porphyry,  found  in  the  excavations 
of  the  Torlonia  family,  is  now  in  the  Museo  Torlonia.     According  to 


ORIENTAL   GODS  75 

Dedications  prove  that  Sarapis  was  worshiped  at  Ostia 
also.  Two  inscriptions  in  which  he  is  addressed  with  Isis 
have  been  cited  above.  In  the  recent  excavations  between 
the  baths  and  the  theatre  the  following  inscription  was  dis- 
covered: 'Aya#77  tv^t)  6eu>  /xeydXa)  ^apdirei  II.  'A/cvWto? 
deoSoros  vyep  [sic)  'A^iXXiov  Xpvadvdovs  tov  vlov.39  Since 
the  form  of  address  here  differs  from  that  quoted  above, 
it  is  probable  that  this  dedication  belonged  to  a  private 
shrine,  rather  than  to  the  temple  at  Portus. 

A  statue  or  bust  of  Sarapis  which  stood  somewhere  near 
the  sea  in  Ostia  plays  an  important  part  in  the  Octavius 
of  Minucius  Felix.  See  n.  4.  Itaque  cum  diluculo  ad  mare 
■iiiambidando  litore  pergeremus  ut  et  aura  adspirans  leniti  r 
membra  vegetaret,  et  cum  eximia  voluptate  molli  vestigio 
cedens  harena  subsideret,  Caecilius  simulacro  Serapidis  de- 
notato  ut  vulgus  superstitiosum  solet,  manum  ori  admovens 
osculum  labiis  impressit.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it 
was  this  act  of  Caecilius  which  provoked  the  long  argument 
on  Christianity  in  the  Octavius.  Two  busts  of  Sarapis,  a 
very  small  one  of  bronze  40  and  another  of  marble,41  were 
found  in  recent  excavations  at  Ostia. 

Bubastis.  A  dedication  to  Isis  and  Bubastis  set  up  by 
a  Bubastiaca  has  been  cited.42  The  latter  goddess,  honored 
here  as  elsewhere  with  Isis,43  probably  had  no  separate 
shrine  at  Ostia,  though  Euggiero  suggests  that  an  inscription 
published  among  those  of  Koine  which  mentions  a  sacerdos 
Bubastium  may  be  from  Ostia.44 

Visconti,  busts  of  Isis  and  Typhon  arc  represented  on  it.  He  makes 
the  suggestion  that  it  probably  stood  in  the  Sarapeum  of  Tortus.  Cf. 
C.  L.  Visconti,  Catalogue  of  the  Musco  Torlonia,  n.  20. 

"NS.  1909,  p.  86.     Annte  tpig.  1909,  n.  212. 

MN8.  1908,  p.  248. 

41  Ibid.  1910,  p.  63,  Fig.  6,  p.  64. 

*s21  add. 

"Cf.  CIL.  in  4234. 

"CIL.  vi  2249.     Cf.  s.  v.  Bubastis.  Ruggiero. 


76 


THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 


SYRIAN     GODS 


Before  the  construction  of  the  port  of  Trajan,  the  Syrians 
usually  came  to  Rome  by  way  of  Puteoli  where  they  had  an 
important  colony.1  When,  in  the  early  part  of  the  second 
century  after  Christ,  the  port  of  Trajan  offered  their  mer- 
chants its  spacious  accommodations,  the  Syrians  seem  often 
to  have  found  it  more  convenient  to  settle  at  Rome  than  at 
the  port.  In  the  case  of  the  Tyrians  definite  evidence  on 
this  point  is  supplied  by  a  letter  which  their  citizens  in 
Puteoli  wrote  to  the  mother  city  in  172  a.  d.2  From  this 
letter  we  learn  that  the  Tyrians  had  two  warehouses  in  Italy, 
one  at  Puteoli  and  one  at  Rome,  and  that  because  of  their 
decreasing  numbers  and  wealth,  the  Tyrians  at  Puteoli  were 
forced  to  ask  assistance  from  their  fellow  townsmen  in 
Rome,  in  order  to  pay  the  necessary  rent  for  their  warehouse. 

This  tendency  of  Syrian  merchants  to  settle  in  Rome 
probably  explains  why  comparatively  few  dedications  to 
Syrian  gods  have  been  found  at  Portus,  and  none  at  all  at 
Ostia,  where  their  merchants  must  have  come  in  large  num- 
bers. There  is  no  definite  evidence  that  a  temple  of  any 
of  their  gods  existed  at  either  place,  though  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  there  was  a  temple  of  Marnas  at  Portus.  A 
Syrian  who  was  connected  with  a  shrine  of  his  native  gods 
in  Rome  set  up  an  inscription  to  Jupiter  Heliopolitanus. 
A  Roman  soldier  and  a  group  of  Roman  mariners  made 
dedications  to  Jupiter  Dolichenus,  the  god  of  inland  Com- 
magene,  whose  worship  was  naturally  propagated  by  soldiers 
quartered  in  that  region  rather  than  by  merchants.  Dedi- 
cations to  Dea  Syria  are  unknown  at  the  port.  Late 
evidence  proves  the  celebration  of  the  Syrian  festival 
Maiumas  here. 

1  Bliimner,   Romische  Privat-Altertiimer,  pp.  624,  633. 
3 IG.  xiv  830;   Inscr.  Or.  ad  res  rom.  pert.  I.  421.     Dubois,  op.  cit. 
pp.  83  ff. 


ORIENTAL,    GODS  77 

Jupiter  Heliopolitanus.  The  following  dedication  was 
discovered  in  the  excavations  of  the  Torlonia  family  at  Por- 
tus:  24.  I.  O.  M.  Angelo  3  Heliop(olitano)  pro  salute 
imperator.  Antonini  et  Commodi  Augg.  Gaionas  d.  d.  (dated 
177-180  a.  d.  when  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Commodus  were 
ruling  together).  This  is  certainly  the  same  Gaionas  who 
is  mentioned  in  four  inscriptions  at  Home,  two  of  which 
were  found  recently  in  the  excavations  of  the  shrine  of 
Syrian  gods  on  the  Janiculum.4     From  these  inscriptions 

3  The  Latin  word  angelus  as  an  epithet  for  a  pagan  divinity  is  found 
only  here.  Henzen  [Arm.  dell' Inst.  1886,  pp.  135  f.)  thought  its  use  due 
to  syncretism  of  Oriental  religions.  Wolff  (Arch.  Zeit.  1867,  col.  55) 
saw  the  influence  of  Chaldean  star  worship  in  the  epithet.  A  more 
satisfactory  explanation  is  given  by  Drexler  s.  v.  Heliopolitanus, 
Roscher,  who  compares  it  with  the  use  of  the  Greek  d77e\os  in  dedi- 
cations to  Ad  inplffTy  ical  Bety  dyyiK^.  Cf.  Bull,  de  Cor.  Hell.  1881, 
p.  182;  LeBas-Waddington,  Inscr.  d'Asie  Mineure,  416.  Here  &yyc\os 
implies  that  the  god  is  a  bringer  of  good  tidings.  Cf.  also  Gruppe, 
Griechische  Mythologie  und  lieligionsgeschichte,  n.  p.  1323,  n.  6. 

*  These  inscriptions  are:  1)  Gaionas'  epitaph,  CIL.  vi  32316  [10.  xiv 
1512,  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Bom.  pert.  I.  235)  : 

D(is)     m(anibus)     s(acrum) 

4i>0<L8e  Taio)i>ds,   $s  Klcrri^ep  Jjv  wore  'Pw/xtjj 

kclI  delnvois  Kpelvas  iroXXd  ner'   eixppoffvvijs, 

Kat/xai   (sic)   rf  dav&ry  nySiv  6<pti\6iuvoz. 

Gaionas    animula. 

2)  CIL.  vi  420  =  30764  (IG.  xiv  985,  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.  I 
70).  I.  O.  M.  Heliopolitano  Kop.p.68<fj  avSpl  /3a[(rt]XiK[w]T[dTif)]  dairiorr} 
[tt/j]  oIkovil[4vt)s]  Imp.  Caes.  M.  Aur.  Commodo  Antonino  Pio  [Fe- 
lici    Aug.]    Sarm.    Germanicfo]    trib.    pot.    x[i]     imp.     [viii.    cos.    V. 

p.    p.]    M.   Antonius   M.    f.    Ga[ion]as   Clauc    quip cistiber 

dedic.  v.  c.  [a.  dcccclxxxix  Imp.  Commodo  A[n]ton[i]no  Pio  Felice 
Aug.  V.  M\  Acilio  Glabrione  II.  cos.  III.  k.  Dec.  (186  A.  D.)  Gaionas" 
full  name  is  given  only  here. 

3)  A  dedication  found  in  the  Villa  Sciarra  on  the  Janiculum,  first 
published  by  Gauckler,  Comptcs  Rend  us,  1908,  p.  525.  (Cf.  Nicole  et 
Darier,  Alc'l.  1909,  p.  63)  :  Pro  salute  et  reditu  et  victoria  imperatorum 
Aug.  Antonini  et  Com(m)odi  Caes.  Germanic,  principis  iuvent.  Sar- 
matici  Gaionas  cistiber  Augustorum  d.  d.  Gancklor.  Mil.  1909,  p.  243, 
published  his  version  of  the  latter  part  of  this  almost  illegible  inscrip- 
tion, as  follows:    Iovi    [opt(imo)    max(imo)]    Heliopolitano   s...  [v?| 


78  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

it  appears  that  Gaionas  was  a  Syrian,  and,  judging  from 
his  devotion  to  Jupiter  Heliopolitanus,  perhaps  a  native  of 
Heliopolis.  He  was  probably  a  merchant  who  had  settled 
at  Eome.  There  he  was  Senrvo/cpiTr)?,  an  office  apparently 
connected  with  the  sacred  banquets  of  the  Syrian  gods  in 
their  shrine  on  the  Janiculum.  In  time  he  was  appointed 
cistiber,  that  is,  one  of  the  quinque  viri  cis  Tiberim,  a  minor 
office  instituted  about  200  b.  c.  which  is  rarely  mentioned. 
Gaionas,  who  seems  to  have  been  very  proud  of  attaining 
this  position,  unimportant  though  it  was,  then  made  dedica- 
tions to  the  gods  of  his  native  city  on  behalf  of  the  welfare 
of  the  emperors  under  whom  he  held  office.  He  made  one 
of  these  dedications  at  Portus  between  177  and  180.5 

Jupiter  Dolichenus.  Two  dedications  to  the  god  of 
Doliche  were  found  at  Portus :  22.  Iovi  Dolicheno  pro  salute 
imp.  L.  Aeli  Aureli  Comodi  Pii  Felicis  Aug.  N.  L.  Ku- 
brius  Maximus  praef.  eq.  alae  Hisp.  s.  votum  solvi.  This 
inscription  is  dated  191-192  by  the  form  of  Commodus' 
name.  110.  [Adnuent]e  imp.  Caes.  Com[modo  Antonino] 
Pio  Felice  sacr(um)  qu[od  vov(erant)  I(ovi)  o(ptimo)] 
m(aximo)  Dulic(eno)  milit(es)  cl(assis)  [pr(aetoriae) 
Mis(enatis)  cum  es]sent  Ostia  sub  [cura]  .  .  .ti  Iusti  tr(ier- 

1.  a.  s.  [Apro]  iterum,  Pollione  iterum  cos.  He  suggests  that  the  first 
words  may  have  been  Iovi  0.  M.  angelo  Heliopolitano,  as  in  the  inscrip- 
tion from  Portus. 

4)  An  inscription  on  a  block  which  probably  served  as  a  cover  of  a 
6r]<Tavp6s  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  Syrian  gods,  found  in  the  Villa  Wurts, 
adjoining  the  Villa  Sciarra;  published  by  Gauckler,  Bull.  Com.  1907, 
p.  57.     Cf.  Hulsen,  Rom.  Mitth.  1907,  pp.  235  ff.: 

Aecr/ids  Situs  Kparepbs  6vp.a  Scots  7rap[^]x<" 

6v  dr)  Tcuuvas  denrvoKplTrjs  eOero. 
5  It  seems  impossible  to  connect  this  inscription  with  a  departure 
of  the  emperors  from  Portus.  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Commodus  re- 
turned from  the  East  in  176,  when  they  landed  at  Brundisium.  On 
August  3,  178  they  left  Eome  for  the  second  German  expedition,  and 
Marcus  never  returned.  There  is  no  evidence  that  they  went  by  way 
of  Portus,  and  in  fact  their  use  of  this  route  is  improbable.  The 
emperors  seem  to  have  remained  in  Italy  from  176  to  178. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  79 

arcki)  VII.  id  .  .  .  [Com]modo  Aug.  V.  cos.  [curam  agente] 
Ter(entio?)  Prisco  6  (186  a.  d.).  Both  these  inscription  - 
date  from  the  reign  of  Commodus  who  showed  this  cult 
special  favor.7  It  is  apparent,  however,  that  neither  of 
these  dedications  was  made  by  a  permanent  inhabitant  of 
Ostia. 

Marnas.  The  following  inscription,  said  to  have  been 
found  at  Portus,  seems  to  be  the  dedication  of  a  statue  of 
the  emperor  Gordian  III,  who  had  evidently  shown  special 
favor  to  the  city  of  Gaza  during  his  long  stay  in  Syria:  IG. 
XIV  926.  'Ayadrj  Tvyrf  ' AvTO/cpaTopa  Kaiaapa  M.  ' Avrutviov 
TopSiavbv  Ei)cre/3r)  EuTir^r)  %e/3ao-TOv  top  OeocptXecnarov  koct- 
fio/cpaTopa  rj  7ro'Xi?  17  tcov  Ta^aicov  Upa  ical  aavXos  kcu 
avrovofAos,  TTiaTrj  [/cat]  eucre/3?;?,  \afi7rpa  ical  fiejaXt],  if; 
iv/c  [el  \  [e]  vo-ecos  rov  irarpiov  Oeov  rbv  kavrrjs  evepjerrjv  81a 
Ti/3.   K\.    Tlaireipiov  eVt/xeA-T/roi)   tov    Upov* 

The  7raT/9to<?  6e6$  here  mentioned  is  Marnas,  the  chief  god 
of  Gaza.  There  is  no  evidence  other  than  this  inscription 
for  the  existence  of  this  cult  anywhere  outside  of  the  Orient, 
and  even  there  the  worship  does  not  seem  to  be  widespread.'' 
Preller  infers  from  this  inscription  that  there  was  a  temple 
of  Marnas  at  Portus.10  The  fact  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Gaza  chose  to  erect  the  statue  of  their  benefactor  at  Portua 
rather  than  at  Rome  would  be  most  readily  explained  by 
the  existence  of  a  Marnaeum  at  the  former  place.  In  thai 
case  Ti.  Claudius  Papirius  may  have  been  hrifteKffT^  of 
the  temple  at  Portus,  though  then  we  should  naturally  expeel 
to  find  the  words   iv  UopTw  in  the  inscription.11     Ti.  Clau- 

8  This  inscription  is  cited  by  Kan,  !><■  Jovia  Dolicheni  Cultu,  Disser- 
tation, Groningen,  1901,  p.  89,  and  by  Cumont  s.  v.  DolichenuB,  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  as  from  Ostia.     The  restorations  are  Mommsen's. 

'Cf.  Cumont,  /.  c. 

8 Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert.   I.  ''s7. 

•  Cf .  Drexle'r  s,  v.  Marnas,  Roscher. 

10  Bom.  Uythologie.  u*  p.  399.2  Cf.  Drexler,  I.  0.  col.  2382:  Cumont, 
Oriental  Religions  in  Roman  Paganism,  p.  243,  a.  16. 

11  Cf.  /(/'.  XIV  914   vewicdpos  rod  iv  U6pT(f>   Zap&iridos. 


80  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

dius  Papirius  is,  however,  more  likely  to  be  the  name  of  a 
citizen  of  Ostia  than  of  a  citizen  of  Gaza.  Since  the  latter 
city  was  a  civitas  foederata  at  the  time  of  this  inscription,12 
its  inhabitants  must  have  received  citizenship  under  the 
Edict  of  Caracalla.  We  should  therefore  expect  to  find  its 
citizens  bearing  the  name  Aurelius,  and  not  Tiberius  Clau- 
dius, which  is  not  found  in  the  indices  to  the  Greek  and 
Latin  inscriptions  of  Syria.  Claudius  occurs  in  the  indices 
only  four  times,  while  Aurelius  occurs  thirty  times.  Fur- 
thermore the  indices  of  inscriptions  from  Syria  do  not  con- 
tain the  name  Papirius,  whereas  the  name  occurs  in  Ostia 
(1448).  The  evidence  does  not,  however,  justify  any 
definite  conclusion  on  this  point. 

Festival  of  Maiumas.  A  popular  festival  known  as 
Maiumas  which  seems  usually  to  have  been  accompanied 
by  considerable  licentiousness  was  celebrated  in  various  parts 
of  the  Orient,  notably  at  Antioch.13  Later  emperors  tried 
to  control  it,  and  at  times  forbade  it  entirely.  Inasmuch 
as  the  harbor  of  Gaza  was  called  Maiumas,  which  means 
'  water  of  the  sea,'  Stark  suggested  that  the  celebration  origi- 
nated there.14  According  to  Suidas  s.  v.  Mai'ou/ia?,  a  festi- 
val of  this  name  was  held  at  Ostia:  nrav^vp^  TjyeTo  iv  tt) 
'Vdifir)  Kara  rov  M.diov  /xrjva.  rr/v  Trapakiov  KaTakafifiavovTes 
7roXiv,  tt)v  Xeyofxevrjv  'Ootmw,  ol  ra  irpcora  t?)?  'Pco/i?;? 
re\ovvT€<;    rjhviraOelv    rjvei^ovro,    iv    toZ?     ^aXaxTibt?     v8a<nv 

12  Cf.  Inscr.  Gr.  ad  res  Rom.  pert,  ill  1212  (on  a  lead  weight)  KoXw^os 
Tdfrs  tirl  'Kpwdov  Aiocp&vTov.  (on  the  side)  U.  Cagnat  suggests  that 
this  inscription  may  be  dated  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Hadrian.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  overlooked  the  inscription  from 
Portus  which  proves  that  Gaza  was  a  civitas  foederata  in  the  time  of 
Gordian  III  (238-244).     It  must  have  been  made  a  colony  later. 

13  Cf.  articles  Maiumas  by  Teuffel,  Pauly,  Real  Encycl.;  Drexler, 
Eoscher;  Saglio,  Daremberg  and  Saglio.  Cf.  also  Buchler,  Revue  des 
fitudes  Juives,  xlii,  1901,  pp.  125  ff. ;  Clermont-Ganneau,  Recueil  d'arch. 
orientale,  rv.  p.  339;   Abel,  Revue  Biblique,  1909,  p.  598. 

u  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  596-598,  quoted  by  Drexler  I.  c. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  81 

aWrjXovs  i/nftdWovTes.  66ev  icai  Mai'ou/ua?  6  7-779  Totatn-77? 
iopTrjS  Kaipb<i   oovo/xd^ero. 

The  connection  of  the  festival  with  the  month  of  May  and 
with  Maia  is  obviously  a  mistaken  effort  to  explain  the 
etymology  of  the  word  Maiumas,16  for  it  is  known  that  the 
celebration  at  Antioch  took  place  in  August.  Teuffel,16 
who  is  followed  by  Drexler,  doubts  whether  such  a  festival 
was  known  at  Ostia.  After  recalling  the  evidence  for  the 
games  in  honor  of  Castor  and  Pollux  there,  Teuffel  adds: 
"  Vielmehr  scheint  Suidas  und  der  Glossator  diese  ludi 
Tiberini  wegen  ihrer  Ahnlichkeit  mit  einem  syrischen  Feste 
des  Namens  verwechselt  zu  haben  und  von  hier  aus  auf 
seine  Ableitung  des  Wortes  und  auf  die  Datierung  in  den 
Mai  gefiihrt  worden  zu  sein." 

It  is,  however,  difficult  to  reconcile  the  unrestrained  cele- 
bration described  by  Suidas  with  the  festival  in  honor  of 

Castor   and    Pollux,    ubi   populus   Romanus Castorum 

celebrandorum  causa  egreditur  sollemnitate  iucunda.17  More- 
over, in  view  of  the  fact  that  intercourse  with  Gaza  is  proved 
for  the  time  of  Gordian  III,18  it  seems  not  improbable  that 
this  Syrian  festival  was  introduced  at  Ostia  during  the  later 
empire.  There  is  but  very  slight  foundation  for  the  un- 
qualified statement  of  A.  J.  Eeinach:19  "La  fete  de 
Maioumas  s'est  introduite  a  Ostie  avec  les  adorateurs  du 

15  Cf.  also  the  Basilica  glosses,  cited  by  Drexler,  /.  c.  Maiou/iS*  dopi-77  h 
'?<!>M  etc.  and  Joh.  Lyd.  De  Mens.  IV.  52.  Lydus  is  trying  to  explain 
the  etymology,  of  Mains:  Kara  U  rbv  tt}s  <pv<no\oylas  rpbirov  t\)v  Marac  ot 
TroXXoi  to  iidwp  ehai  /SouXovtcu  ■  xal  yap  napa  tois  Supotj  papPapl&vcTiv  oCtwj 
in  Kal  vvv  to  C5wp  irpoirayoptiieTai,  ojs  teal  p.rjtovpt  ra  Mpo<p6pa  xaXelffdai. 
ibid,  rv  53.  Lydus  is  explaining  that  there  is  special  danger  of  earth- 
quakes in  May:  n/lSw  otv  Kara  toOtox  t>  Mo?av,  tovt^ti  ttjv  yr,v 
eepairevovres.      p-aiCov /mL^iv  to  iopTa&iv  6vop.6.$ovei.v,    i£  oB   *al  fiatovp-av. 

u  L.  C. 

17  See  discussion  of  Castor  and  Pollux. 

18  Cf.  IG.  xiv  926. 

» Revue  Arch.  xv.  1910,  p.  49,  n.  2.  Cumont  seems  to  agree,  cf.  Ori- 
ental Religions  in  Roman  Paganism,  p.  243,  n.  10. 

6 


82 


THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


Marnas  de  Gaza."     As  we  have  seen,  the  evidence  does  not 
suffice  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  cult  of  Marnas  at  Ostia.20 


MITHRAS 

Toward  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  our  era  the  con- 
quests of  the  Flavian  emperors  in  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor 
brought  Rome  into  contact  with  a  region  in  which  the  most 
important  cult  was  that  of  the  Persian  god  Mithras.  The 
worship  of  this  god  spread  rapidly  through  the  Empire,  until 
in  the  early  third  century  he  numbered  more  devotees  than 
any  other  pagan  deity.  The  cult  of  Mithras  was  propa- 
gated in  the  West  chiefly  by  soldiers,  slaves,  and  merchants. 
Recruits  levied  in  the  lands  where  Mithras  reigned  supreme 
or  legionaries  who  had  been  quartered  in  those  regions 
carried  his  worship  to  the  most  distant  confines  of  the  Em- 
pire.1 Eastern  slaves  who  were  brought  in  large  numbers 
to  Italy  and  especially  to  Rome  were  zealous  missionaries 
of  Mithras  and  many  of  them  continued  to  propagate  his 
worship  after  they  were  freed.  Asiatic  merchants  as  well 
as  slaves  were  instrumental  in  establishing  the  cult  in  the 
ports  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  known  in  the  ports  of 
Alexandria  and  Sidon  in  the  East,  and  at  Pola,  Aquileia, 
Ostia,  Antium,  and  Rusellae  in  Italy.2  That  evidence  for 
the  worship  of  Mithras  is  lacking  at  Puteoli  is  at  least  par- 
tially explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Oriental  trade  of  that 

20  As  Drexler  I.  c.  has  shown,  the  assumption  of  Preller,  Rom.  Mythol. 
II.  p.  399,  Mommsen,  Eph.  Epig.  3  p.  329,  and  Reville,  Die  Religion  der 
rbmischen  Gesellschaft  in  der  Zeit  des  Syncretismus,  p.  72,  that  Maiuma 
is  a  Syrian  form  of  the  goddess  Venus  is  totally  without  foundation. 

1  Cf.  however,  C.  H.  Moore,  Distribution  of  Oriental  Cults  in  Transac- 
tions of  the  American  Philological  Association,  1907,  pp.  142  ff.  The 
author  shows  that  soldiers  were  less  prominent  in  spreading  the  cult 
of  Mithras  than  has  generally  been  supposed. 

2  Cf.  Cumont,  The  Mysteries  of  Mithra,  p.  64. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  83 

port  decreased  greatly  after  the  construction  of  the  ports  of 
Claudius  and  Trajan.3 

The  form  of  the  temple  of  Mithras  or  the  Mithreum  is 
distinctive.  Unlike  the  Greco-Roman  temple  which  was 
simply  the  house  of  the  god,  the  Mithreum  was  a  place 
where  the  faithful  assembled  to  worship.  The  sanctuary 
was  usually  small,  accommodating  ordinarily  about  fifty 
people.  Whenever  the  number  of  devotees  exceeded  the 
capacity  of  a  Mithreum,  a  new  one  was  built.  It  was  often 
an  underground  chamber  and  was  regularly  divided  into 
three  main  parts.  A  central  portion  or  choir,  usually  about 
two  meters  wide,  where  probably  the  priests  alone  were  per- 
mitted, was  flanked  on  either  side  by  raised  benches  or 
podia,  the  inclined  surfaces  of  which  were  a  meter  to  a 
meter  and  a  half  in  width.  Here  the  faithful  probably 
knelt  during  worship.  At  the  further  end  of  the  sanctuary 
there  was  always  a  sculptured  group  representing  Mithras 
slaying  the  bull  (Mithras  Tauroctonos).4 

At  least  six  Mithrea  are  known  to  have  existed  at  Ostia 
and  Portus.5  Only  at  Rome  is  there  evidence  for  a  larger 
number  of  shrines.  Moreover  the  excellent  preservation  of 
the  Mithrea,  the  Mithraic  inscriptions,  and  the  statues  found 
at  Ostia,  and  the  early  date  of  some  of  the  monuments  make 
the  remains  exceedingly  valuable  to  students  of  the  cult  of 
Mithras.     Probably  the  earliest  Mithreum  known  is  tin    one 

3Cf.  Dubois,  op.  cit.  p.  153. 

*Cf.  Cumont,  Textes  et  monument*  figur4s  relatifa  wux  mystdres  -/-• 
1/  i  I  lira,   I.   pp.   59  f. 

5  Plutarch  in  his  life  of  Pompey,  c.  24,  states  that  Romans  wen- 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Mithras  by  Cilician  pirates  who  had 
been  conquered  by  Pompey.  C.  L.  Visconti.  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1864,  p.  1  17. 
recalls  Cicero's  words  (De  Lege  Manil.  12,  33)  about  the  defeat  of  the 
Roman  fleet  by  the  pirates  at  Ostia  and  considers  it  probable  that, 
after  the  successful  termination  of  the  war,  the  ships  gathered  al  Ostia, 
where  the  soldiers  and  sailors  may  have  introduced  the  worship  of 
Mithras.  There  is  nothing  to  support  this  view.  Subsequent  researches 
have  shown  that  the  Persian  god  could  have  had  very  tew  devotees  in 
the  West  before  the  end  of  the  first  century  after  Christ. 


84  THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 

near  the  Metroum  at  Ostia,  which  seems  to  date  from  the 
time  of  Hadrian.  In  another  temple  an  inscription  of  162 
a.  d.  was  fonnd.  Since,  however,  Mithraic  inscriptions  of 
an  earlier  date  have  been  fonnd  at  Rome,  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  cult  at  Ostia  antedated  that  at  Rome. 

Inscriptions  of  Ostia  give  the  names  of  sacerdotes  and 
antistites  of  Mithras.6  Some  of  these  priests  bear  the  titles 
pater  et  sacerdos,  pater  et  antistes,  which  indicate  that  they 
had  attained  to  the  highest  of  the  seven  degrees  of  initiation 
in  the  cult.7  The  simple  title  pater  is  also  of  frequent  occur- 
rence. An  initiate  who  had  reached  the  fourth  degree,  that 
of  leo,  inscribed  at  Portus  a  list  of  the  members  of  an 
association  of  worshipers  of  Mithras. 

The  Mithraic  monuments  found  at  Ostia  prior  to  1896 
have  received  exhaustive  treatment  in  the  great  work  of 
Cumont:  Textes  et  monuments  figures  relatifs  au  mysteres 
de  Mithra.8  The  following  discussion  has  therefore  been 
confined  to  a  brief  summary  of  the  most  important  finds  in 
the  individual  Mithrea,  together  with  a  consideration  of  the 
inscriptions  and  other  remains  recently  brought  to  light. 

The  temple  discovered  in  1867  about  three  meters  from 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  temple  of  Magna  Mater  is  proba- 

6  Cumont,  Mysteries  of  Mithra,  p.  165,  finds  no  distinction  in  the  use 
of  the  two  titles. 

7  Ibid.  p.  152.  Cf.  W.  J.  Pythian-Adams,  on  The  Problem  of  the 
Mithraic  Grades  in  Journal  of  Roman  Studies,  1912,  pp.  53  ff.  The 
author  attempts  to  show  that  there  were  only  six  grades  in  the  Mithraic 
initiation. 

8  Vol.  ii,  1896,  Vol.  I,  1899.  Vol.  n  contains  texts,  inscriptions,  and 
monuments.  Inscriptions  131-142,  560  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  monuments  79-85 
bis;  *295  (cf.  p.  523  supplement)  are  from  Ostia  and  Portus.  Vol.  I 
contains  an  introduction  and  conclusions.  For  a  summary  of  the 
material  from  Ostia  cf.  Vol.  I,  p.  265,  n.  4.  Cumont's  conclusions, 
without  the  notes,  have  been  published  separately;  English  translation 
by  T.  J.  McCormack:  The  Mysteries  of  Mithra,  Chicago,  1903.  In  the 
following  discussion,  references  are  to  the  larger  work  if  no  title  is 
given. 


ORIEXTAL,   GODS  85 

bly  the  oldest  Mithreum  in  Ostia.9  Its  proximity  to  the 
temple  of  Magna  Mater  led  Visconti  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  not  a  Mithreum,  but  was  a  shrine  of  the  Phrygian 
gods  which  was  used  for  initiations.10  His  view  was  not 
disputed  until  Cumont  showed  that  the  sanctuary  was  a 
Mithreum.  The  figures  of  the  mosaic  pavement  of  the 
central  part  of  the  shrine,11  representing  an  old  man  with 
spade  and  scythe,  a  raven,  a  cock,  a  scorpion,  a  serpent,  and 
a  bull's  head,  Visconti  tried  to  connect  with  Cybele  and 
Attis.  Cumont  has  shown,  however,  that  the  old  man  is 
probably  Silvanus,  who  seems  to  have  been  identified  with 
Drvdspa  in  the  Mithraic  religion,12  and  that  the  other 
figures  of  the  mosaic  are  all  well  known  in  the  cult  of  the 
Persian  god.  A  beautiful  head  with  a  Phrygian  cap  found 
here,  and  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  was  thought  by  Vis- 
conti to  represent  Attis.13  Cumont  recognized  in  it  a  head 
of  Mithras,  probably  from  the  group  which  stood  at  the  end 
of  the  temple.  The  style  of  the  head  seems  to  date  it  in  the 
time  of  Hadrian.  A  head  of  Sol,  now  in  the  Lateran,  was 
also  discovered  in  the  Mithreum. 

9  Cumont,  Mon.  295,  pp.  414  ff.,  cf.  p.  523.  This  shrine  is  listed  by 
Cumont  among  Monuments  douteux,  although  he  seems  not  to  douht 
that  it  is  a  Mithreum.  A  plan  of  the  temple  is  given  by  Cumont,  n. 
Fig.  346;  De  Marchi,  II  Culto  privato  di  Roma  antica,  u.  Tav.  iv;  l\i-- 
chetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.  109   (all  after  Mon.  dell'Inst.  vm,  Tav.  lx.) 

10  Ann.  delVInst.  1808,  pp.  402  ff.  Visconti  called  the  temple  a  sacrario 
metroaco  and  believed  that  it  was  used  for  initiations  into  the  cult  of 
the  Phrygian  gods.  He  came  to  this  conclusion  the  more  readily 
because  he  believed  that  Mithras  was  worshiped  in  temples  like  those 
of  other  gods,  as  well  as  in  the  underground  sanctuaries  wliicli  wire, 
he  thought,  for  initiates  only.  De  Marchi,  op.  cit.  n.  p.  163,  does  not 
seem  to  know  Cumont's  discussion  of  this  shrine.  Paschetto  speaks  of 
the  shrine  as  a  Mithreum.  Dp.  cit.  p.  109,  but  on  p.  375  he  expresses 
doubt  as  to  whether  it  is  or  not. 

11  Reproduced  Mon.  dell'Inst.  I.  c.;  Cumont  n.  Fig.  347;  De  Marchi, 
op.  cit.  Tav.  v;  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.  110. 

12  See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 

13  Mon.  dell'Inst.  I.  c,  Cumont,  n.  Figs.  348  and  490.  Cf.  also  13enn- 
dorf  and  Schoene,  op.  cit.  no.  547;   Helbig,  Fithrer,  i.  no.  717. 


86 


THE   CULTS  OF   OSTIA 


Cumont  believes  that  the  proximity  of  this  Mithreum  to 
the  Metroum  indicates  a  close  connection  between  the  cults 
of  Magna  Mater  and  Mithras  at  Ostia.  Indeed  he  thinks 
that  the  south  wall  of  the  Mithreum  may  be  a  continuation 
of  the  north  wall  of  the  Metroum,  and  that  the  two  buildings 
were  probably  constructed  at  the  same  time.  Further  evi- 
dence for  the  relationship  of  the  two  cults  he  finds  in  the 
inscription  of  a  priest,  apparently  of  Mithras,  discovered  in 
the  schola  of  the  dendrophori  adjoining  the  Metroum:  70. 
.  .  .  d.  d.  M.  Cerellio  Hieronymo  patri  et  sacerdoti  suo, 
eosque  antistes  s.  s.  deo  libens  dicavit.  With  regard  to  other 
inscriptions  found  in  the  schola,  Cumont  adds :  "  les  divinites 
dont  les  noms  sont  mentionnes  sur  d'autres  pierres  (Virtus, 
Mars,  Silvanus,  Terra  Mater)  etaient  toutes  honorees  dans 
la  religion  mithriaque,  tandis  que  toutes  sauf  la  derniere, 
paraissent  etrangeres  aux  mysteres  des  dieux  phrygiens.  .  .  . 
Deux  des  inscriptions  des  dendrophores  sont  datees  des 
annees  142  et  143  ap.  J.  C.  La  consecration  du  mithreum, 
dont  la  presence  permet  seule  de  comprendre  ces  dedicaces, 
est  done  anterieure  au  milieu  du  lie  siecle,  ce  qui  Concorde 
bien  avec  l'epoque  assignee  par  M.  Visconti  a  la  tete  du 
pretendu  Attis."  14 

Although  there  was  undoubtedly  a  connection  between  the 
cults  of  Magna  Mater  and  Mithras,15  the  evidence  does  not 

"Cumont,  ii.  p.  418.  The  inscriptions  recording  gifts  of  statues  to 
the  dendrophori  (53,  69,  33,  70)  are  listed  by  Cumont  among  doubtful 
inscriptions.  Cf.  p.  475,  nos.  560a,  b,  c,  d,  e.  The  occurrence  of  the 
title  mater  in  69  suggests  to  Cumont  that  there  may  have  been  at 
Ostia,  as  perhaps  at  Cologne,  mysteries  for  women  related  to  the  mys- 
teries of  Mithras  from  which  women  seem  to  have  been  excluded.  Cf. 
Cumont's  note,  II.  p.  476,  on  inscr.  574b.  Cumont  does  not  mention  37, 
which  records  the  gift  of  a  statue  of  Attis  to  the  cannophori  by  two 
people  bearing  the  titles  pater  and  mater.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt 
that  these  titles  were  used  in  the  cult  of  Magna  Mater  at  Ostia,  cf. 
discussion  of  Magna  Mater.  Wissowa,  Religion  und  Kultus,2  p.  369, 
n.  2,  confuses  the  facts  and  states  that  the  inscriptions  bearing  the 
dates  142  and  143  were  found  in  the  Mithreum. 

15  Cf.  Cumont,  Mysteries,  pp.  86  f.,  pp.   179  f. 


ORIENTAL    HODS  87 

justify  Cumont's  conclusion  that  the  two  cults  were  particu- 
larly closely  related  at  Ostia.  The  proximity  of  the  two 
temples  proves  nothing,  for  another  Mithreum  of  Ostia  was 
situated  directly  behind  four  small  temples  with  which  it 
seems  to  have  no  connection.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
the  two  temples  were  built  at  the  same  time.  Furthermore, 
the  occurrence  of  the  title  pater  among  the  worshipers  of 
Magna  Mater  at  Ostia  suggests  the  possibility  that  the  pater 
et  sacerdos  whose  inscription  was  found  in  the  schola  may 
have  been  a  priest  of  Magna  Mater.10  lint  even  if  the 
inscription  is  Mithraic — and  the  double  title  so  often  found 
in  the  cult  of  Mithras  is  in  favor  of  this  view — it  may  not 
have  been  placed  in  the  schola  originally.  We  have  seen 
that  some  of  the  other  inscriptions  found  there  probably  came 
from  places  near  by.  Moreover,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  the  dedication  of  statues  of  Virtus,  Mars,  and  Silvan  us 
to  the  dendrophori  indicates  a  connection  with  the  Persian 
god.  We  know  that  the  dendrophori  had  special  reason  for 
honoring  Silvanus.17  Mars  and  Virtus,  though  they  Beem 
to  have  been  identified  with  gods  of  the  Persian  Pantheon,18 
are  each  mentioned  only  once  in  Mithraic  inscriptions,  if  we 
may  trust  Cumont's  indices.  The  epigraphical  evidence  for 
dating  the  Mithreum  before  142  is  then  far  from  convincing, 
though  the  style  of  the  head  of  Mithras  and  the  character 
of  the  remains  favor  the  date  Cumont  proposes. 

In  excavations  near  the  Torre  Bovacciana  in  1860  L861  a 
Mithreum  was  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  a  building  which 
is  generally — without  good  reason — called  the  Palazzo  Im- 
periale.19  In  this  building  are  extensive  ruins  of  baths 
which  have  sometimes  been  thought  to  be  the  baths  of  Anto- 
ninus Pius,  known  to  have  been  restored   by  the  second  P. 

w  See  discussion  of  Magna  Mater. 
17  See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 
"Cf.  Cumont,  I.  pp.  143,  151. 

"Cumont,  Mon.  83,  Inscr.  131-133.  Visconti.  \nn.  dtHVIntt.  1864, 
pp.    14711.     Tav.  d.   Agg.   K. 


88  THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

Lucilius  Gamala.20  The  date  of  a  Mithraic  inscription  of 
the  year  162  found  here  would  be  in  accord  with  the  identi- 
fication of  the  baths.  A  niche  of  the  pronaos  of  the  temple 
was  adorned  with  a  mosaic  representation  of  Silvanus,21 
which  is  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  In  the  black  and 
white  mosaic  pavement  of  the  central  portion  of  the  interior 
is  written  twice  the  inscription  (56)  :  Soli  invict.  Mit.  d.  d. 
L.  Agrius  Calendio.  At  the  end  of  the  sanctuary  was  an 
altar  with  the  inscription  (57)  :  C.  Caelius  Hermaeros 
antistes  huius  loci  fecit  sua  pec.  On  each  side  of  the  central 
portion  of  the  Mithreum  there  were  bases  which  supported 
statues  of  the  Mithraic  torchbearers  or  dadophori.22  Simi- 
lar dadophori  are  represented  in  relief  on  the  bases,  on  each 
of  which  occurs  the  inscription  (58,  59)  :  C.  Caelius  Erme- 
ros  antistes  huius  loci  fecit  sua  pec.  On  the  left  side  of 
one  of  these  bases  is  the  consular  date  162  a.  d.  Marble 
fragments  of  a  head  with  a  Phrygian  cap  and  of  a  right 
hand  holding  a  knife  found  here  belonged  to  the  group  of 
Mithras  Tauroctonos  which  stood  originally  at  the  end  of  the 
shrine.23 

One  of  the  richest  Mithrea  of  Ostia  was  the  one  discovered 
by  the  English  painter  Robert  Fagan  in  1797. 24  Its  exact 
location  is  not  known,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  near  Torre 
Bovacciana.  We  are  told  that  it  was  entered  through  a 
long  narrow  corridor,  and  that  its  form  was  in  imitation  of 
a  natural  grotto.  At  the  entrance  was  found  a  group  repre- 
senting Mithras  Tauroctonos  which  is  now  in  the  Galleria 

20  GIL.  xiv  376.  For  plan  of  the  Mithreum  cf .  Mysteries,  Fig.  16 ; 
Mel.  1911,  PI.  v;  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.  119. 

21  See  discussion  of  Silvanus. 

a  Cumont,  II.  Fig.  72,  74;  Mysteries,  Fig.  18. 

23Visconti,  I.  c,  p.  159.  Another  statue  of  a  dadophoros,  now  in  the 
Lateran,  seems  also  to  have  been  found  here.  Cf.  Paschetto,  op.  cit. 
p.  392,  n.  3;  Benndorf  and  Schoene,  op.  cit.  n.  586. 

24  Cumont,  Mon.  79-81,  Inscr.  137-139;  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'Inst.  1864, 
p.   151;   Zoega,  Abhandlungen,  Taf.  v.  n.   15,  p.   146. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  89 

Lapidaria  of  the  Vatican.25  On  the  base  of  this  relief  is  the 
inscription  (64)  :  Sig.  indeprehensivilis  dei  L.  Sextius  Kama 
et  G.  Valerius  Heracles  sacerdos  s.  p.  p.  Within  the  shrine 
was  found  a  white  marble  statue  of  the  Mithraic  Kronos, 
which  is  today  at  the  entrance  of  the  Vatican  Library.20 
The  figure,  which  has  a  lion's  head  and  four  wings  on  which 
are  represented  the  signs  of  the  seasons,  is  encircled  six 
times  by  a  serpent.  On  a  projection  of  the  base  is  the  in- 
scription (65):  C.  Valerius  Heracles  pat.  et  C.  Valerii 
Vitalis  et  Nicomes  sacerdotes  s.  p.  c.  p.  s.  r.  d.  d.  Ldi.  Aug, 
imp.  Com.  VI  et  Septimiano  cos  (190  a.  d.).  A  bas-relief 
representing  a  similar  figure  of  a  Mithraic  Kronos  was  also 
found  here.27  From  this  Mithreum  probably  came  also  the 
inscription  (QQ) :  C.  Valerius  Heracles  pat[e]r  e[t]  an- 
[tisjtes  dei  iu[b]enis  inconrupti  So[l]is  invicti  .Mithra[e 
cjryptam  palati  concessa[m]  sibi  a  M.  Aurelio.  .  .  .  2S 
A   fragmentary   bas-relief  with   Mithraic   representations 

26  Cuinont,  II.  Fig.  67;  Amelung,  8c.  des  Vat.  Mus.  I.  p.  275,  Gall. 
Lapid.    144b,   Taf.   30. 

^Cumont,  II.  Fig.  68,  cf.  Vol.  I,  pp.  92-93;  Mysteries,  Fig.  20;  Pas- 
chetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.  34. 

"Cumont,  ir.  Fig.  69;  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.   114. 

28  De  Rossi  wished  to  restore  a  M.  Aurelio  [Commodo  Antoninn  Aug.] 
but  Dessau's  view  that  this  M.  Aurelius  was  perhaps  a  freedman  or 
procurator  of  the  emperor  is  much  more  probable.  Carcopinu.  M<  I.  1911, 
p.  219,  notes  that  palatium  would  hardly  be  used  of  a  private  house, 
and  that  if  this  M.  Aurelius  was  a  procurator,  the  building  of  which 
the  Mithreum  was  a  part  probably  belonged  to  the  emperor.  He  believes 
the  Mithreum  to  be  identical  with  the  one  discovered  in  1860-1861  in 
the  so-called  Palazzo  imperiale — "  malgre'  l'apparente  contradiction  chro- 
nologique  entre  CIL.  xiv  58-59  et  CIL.  xiv  65."  He  notes  that  the 
latter  Mithreum  did  not  contain  a  Mithraic  bas-relief.  As  stated  above, 
however,  fragments  of  such  a  bas-relief  were  found  there.  Cuinont  has 
also  suggested  that  the  Mithreum  discovered  by  Fagan  may  be  identical 
with  one  mentioned  by  Visconti,  Ann.  dell'lnst.  1868,  p.  412.  which 
could  be  seen  "  non  molto  lungi  dai  ruderi  del  teatro  lungo  una  via 
fatta  tracciare  per  recarsi  dalla  prima  piazza  dell'antica  eitta  verso 
il  cosidetto  tempio  di  Giove."  Cf.  Cumont,  n.  p.  418.  Mon.  *295  bis. 
This  Mithreum  is,  however,  connected  by  Paschetto  (op.  cit.  p.  387) 
with  the  shrine  found  in  1802. 


90 


THE    CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


on  it  was  also  discovered  by  Fagan  apparently  at  Ostia,  and 
is  now  in  the  Museo  Chiaramonti  of  the  Vatican.29 

A  relief  of  pavonazzetto  representing  Mithras  Taurocto- 
nos,  now  in  the  Galleria  Lapidaria  of  the  Vatican,  was  found 
at  Ostia  in  the  excavations  of  Pope  Pius  VII  in  1802.30 
The  circumstances  of  its  discovery  are  not  known,  but  it  is 
probable  that  it  was  originally  built  into  the  wall  at  the  end 
of  a  Mithreum.  Above  it  was  the  inscription  (60):  A. 
Decimius  A.  f.  Pal.  Decimianus  s.  p.  restituit,  and  below  it 
(61)  :  A.  Decimius  A.  fil.  Pal.  Decimianus  aedem  cum  suo 
pronao  ipsumque  deum  solem  Mithra  et  marmoribus  et 
omni  cultu  sua  p.  restituit.  At  the  same  time  were  found: 
62.  L.  Tullius  Agatho  deo  invicto  Soli  Mithrae  aram  d.  d. 
eanque  dedicavit  ob  honore  dei  M.  Aemilio  Epaphrodito 
patre,  and  63.  M.  Aemilio  Epaphrodito  patre  et  sacerdote. 

Cumont  has  suggested  that  this  Mithreum,  may  be  identi- 
cal with  the  one  discovered  in  a  private  house  behind  the 
four  small  temples  in  1885-1886.31  The  fact  that  neither 
sculpture  nor  inscriptions  were  found  in  the  latter  supports 
the  suggestion.  This  Mithreum  is  of  great  interest  because 
of  the  mosaic  representations  which  cover  the  central  section 
and  the  podia.  On  the  ends  of  the  podia  are  the  two  dado- 
phori,  on  the  sides  the  six  planets,  and  on  top  the  twelve 
signs  of  the  zodiac.  In  the  central  pavement  are  repre- 
sented a  sacrificial  knife  and  seven  half  circles  which  indi- 
cate the  seven  celestial  spheres.     "  A  Ostie,  sept  demi-cercles, 

29  Cumont,  n.  Mon.  85,  Fig.  78;  Museo  Chiaramonti,  no.  569;  cf. 
Amelung,  op.  cit.  I,  p.  692.  Taf.  74.  According  to  Amelung,  a  fragment 
in  the  Cortile  del  Belvedere  n.  105  belongs  with  this  one.  Cf.  also 
Zoega,  Abhandlungen,  p.  150,  n.  25,  pp.  176  f.,  who  states  that  the  relief 
was  found  at  Quadraro. 

30  Cumont,  ii.  Mon.  82,  inscr.  134-136.  Paschetto,  op.  cit.  Fig.  115. 
Amelung,  op.  cit.  Vol.  I.  p.  274,  Taf.  30. 

81  Cumont,  ii.  Mon.  84.  Fig.  77;  Lanciani,  N8.  1886,  pp.  162  ff.;  Schier- 
enberg,  Jahrbiicher  des  Vereins  f.  Alt.  Fr.  im  Rh.  84,  pp.  249  ff. ;  Cumont, 
Notes  sur  un  temple  mithriaque  dicouvert  d  Ostie,  Gand,  1891;  Pas- 
chetto, op.  cit.  pp.  394  ff.     Figs.  120,  121. 


ORIENTAL    GODS  91 

dessines  dans  le  pavement  du  choeur,  marquaicnt  sans  doute 
les  stations  ou  le  pretre  s'arretait  pour  invoquer  les  planetes, 
figurees  sur  la  paroi  des  banes."  M 

A  shrine  which  is  of  the  usual  type  of  Mithreum  was 
uncovered  in  1908  on  the  road  which  leads  from  flic  Via  dei 
Sepolcri  to  the  baths.33  Here  were  found  inscriptions  to 
Jupiter  Sabazis  34  and  Numen  Caelestis,35  but  no  Mithraic 
inscriptions  or  sculptures.  Vaglieri,  believing  that  other 
Oriental  cults  may  have  had  shrines  similar  to  those  of 
Mithras,  suggests  that  this  may  be  a  Sabazeum.  He  points 
out  that  the  cult  of  Mithras  is  known  to  have  influenced  that 
of  Sabazis.  But  since  there  is  no  evidence  that  Sabazis  was 
ever  worshiped  in  a  temple  of  this  type,  it  seems  more 
probable  that  the  shrine  is  a  Mithreum. 

An  obscure  inscription  found  near  the  theatre  seems  to 
refer  to  a  restoration  of  a  spelaeum  or  temple  of  Mithras. 
Cf.  NS.  1910,  pp.  186  f.  Ma.  Victori  patri  Aur.  Cresces. 
Aug.  lib.  fratres  ex  speleo  dilapso  in  meliori  restauravit.8* 
Two  other  inscriptions  found  recently,  both  fragmentary, 
may  be  dedications  to  Mithras.37  One  of  them  bears  the 
consular  date  107  a.  d. 

An  inscription  on  an  epistyle  found  at  Ostia  records  the 


,aCumont,  I.  p.  63. 

"Vaglieri,  Comptes  rendu*  des  Stances  de  VAcadrmir  des  Inscriptions 
et  Belles-Lettres,  1909,  pp.  184-191. 

u  EE.  ix  439. 

85  Ibid.  436.  Vaglieri's  suggestion,  I.  e.  p.  191,  that  the  Numen 
Caeleste  ( ?)  may  be  Mithras  cannot  be  supported.  The  epithet  oaelestis 
seems  never  to  have  been  applied  to  Mithras.     See  p.   93. 

84  Vaglieri  can  hardly  be  correct  in  his  suggestion  that  thin  may  refer 
to  the  presentation  of  a  statue  of  Mars  to  the  fratres,  for  in  that  case 
the  inscription  would  have  been  worded  differently.  Mars  was  identified 
with  a  Persian  god.     Cf.  Cumont,  I.  pp.  143  f. 

S1  EE.  ix  441,  463.  For  another  fragment  of  the  second  inscription 
see  N8.  1911,  p.  283.  Cf.  also  EE.  ix  444....  Guntas  feoernni  de 
sua  pecuni[a.  Vaglieri  notes  that  the  name  Guntas  is  found  in  I 
Mithraic  inscription  of  Rome. 


92 


THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 


dedication  of  a  statue  of  Ahriman,  the  Mithraic  evil  spirit.38 
Cf.  EE.  ix  433;  LJolliano  Callinico  patre  [P]etronius 
Felix  Marsus  Signum  Arimanium  do.  de.  d. 

Although  no  Mithreum  has  been  discovered  at  Portus, 
inscriptions  found  there  indicate  the  existence  of  at  least  one 
shrine.39  A  bronze  tablet  bears  an  inscription  of  a  priest 
of  Mithras:  403.  Sex.  Pompeio  Sex.  fil.  Maximo  sacerdoti 
Solis  invicti  Mi.  patri  patrum  qq.  corp.  treiect.  togatensium, 
sacerdotes  Solis  invicti  Mi.  ob  amorem  et  merita  eius.  Sem- 
per habet.  Above  is  represented  a  bust  of  Sol,  on  the  right 
a  patera,  on  the  left  a  sacrificial  knife.  A  marble  vase 
found  in  the  excavations  of  the  Prince  Torlonia  bears  the 
inscription  (55):  Invicto  deo  S[oli].  A  head  of  Sol  and 
a  Mithraic  dadophoros  are  represented  on  the  vase.  286 
gives  an  Album  sacrato[rum]  or  list  of  members  of  a  reli- 
gious organization  which  is  proved  to  be  Mithraic  by  the 
titles  pater  and  leo  found  in  it. 


OTHER    SOLAR    DIVINITIES 

Invictus  Deus  Sol.  A  fragmentary  dedication  was  dis- 
covered in  the  Via  del  teatro :  EE.  ix  440.  [invicto]  deo  Soli 
[omnip]otenti  .  .  .  o.  caelesti  n[u]m[ini  pjraesenti  Fo[r]- 
tu[na]e  Laribus  Tut[ela]eque  [sa]c  [Venera]ndus. 

Sol  and  Luna.  On  a  tile  which  was  built  into  a  wall  at 
Portus  is  the  inscription  (4089.7)  :  Ex  oficin.  L.  Aemili 
Iuliani  Solis  et  Lunae  sacerd.  Since  there  is  no  other  evi- 
dence for  a  temple  of  Sol  and  Luna  at  Portus  or  at  Ostia, 
Iulianus  may  have  been  priest  in  some  other  place.1 


38  On  Ahriman  cf.  Cumont,  I.  p.  139. 

39  Cumont,  II.  Mon.  *85  bis,  Inscr.  140-142. 

1  In  404,  which  is  so  fragmentary  that  it  is  unintelligible,  are  the 
words  in  Solis  n(umero) . 


ORIENTAL    GODS  93 


SABAZIS 


In  a  small  shrine  which  was  probably  a  Mithreum   was 

discovered  the  inscription  EE.  ix  439:  L.  Aemiliu[s.  .  .  ]eusc 
ex  imperio  Iovis  Sabazi  votum  fecit. 


CAELESTIS 


In  the  same  shrine  where  an  inscription  to  Sabazis  was 
found,1  the  following  dedication  came  to  light:  EE.  ix  436. 
Numini  c[ae]lesti  P.  Clodius  [Fl]avins  Venera[n]dus 2 
VI  vir  [A]ug.  somno  monitus  fecit.  There  seems  to  be  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  this  numen  Caelestis3  is  the  Dea  Cae- 
lestis  of  Carthage,  whose  cult  was  fairly  widespread. 
Vaglieri's  suggestion  that  it  refers  to  the  Lydian  Anaitis 
lacks  support.4  Two  other  cases  of  numen  Caelestis 
certainly  refer  to  the  Carthaginian  goddess.5 

^See  p.  91. 

*  Possibly  the  same  man  who  set  up  EE.  rx  440,  in  which  the  epithet 
Caelesti  is  used  of  some  god. 

3Vaglieri,  Comptes  rendus,  1909,  p.  190,  is  probably  wrong  in  taking 
Caelestis  as  an  adjective  here,  and  reading  numen  caeleste  for  the 
nominative  form.     Caelestis  seems  to  be  in  apposition  to  numrn. 

4  He  would  refer  to  Anaitis  also  the  familiar  inscription  of  the 
Capitoline,  WB.  1892,  p.  407.  Cf.  Frere,  Sur  le  culte  de  Caelestis,  Rev. 
Arch.  X.  1907,  p.  23. 

*CIL.  vhi  8239;   in  992,  cf.  993. 


CONCLUSION 

The  various  points  established  by  this  study  have  been 
embodied  in  the  discussions  of  the  individual  cults.  It 
remains  by  way  of  conclusion  to  indicate  the  cults  of  the 
colony  which  were  honored  with  temples  and  shrines,  and 
to  point  to  the  circumstances  which  produced  the  peculiar 
religious  aspect  of  the  colony. 

The  temples  known  to  have  existed  at  Ostia  and  Portus 
are  those  of  Vulcan,  the  Capitoline  Triad,  Castor  and  Pol- 
lux, Liber  Pater,  Venus,  Fortuna,  Ceres,  Spes,  the  Genius 
of  the  Colony,  Roma  and  Augustus,  Magna  Mater,  Isis,  and 
Sarapis.  There  were  also  shrines  of  Pater  Tiberinus,  of  the 
emperors  Vespasian,  Titus,  Hadrian,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and 
Septimius  Severus,1  and  numerous  shrines  of  Mithras.  Of 
the  temples,  that  of  Sarapis  and,  probably,  that  of  Liber 
Pater  were  at  Portus ;  all  the  others  seem  to  have  been  at 
Ostia.     Certainly  one  shrine  of  Mithras  was  in  Portus. 

The  cult  of  Vulcan,  of  the  Capitoline  Triad,  and  of  Castor 
and  Pollux  seem  to  have  been  established  early  in  the  history 
of  Ostia.  Vulcan  was  probably  worshiped  in  this  region 
even  before  the  foundation  of  the  colony  and  must  have 
remained  for  a  long  time  the  chief  god  of  the  city.  Evi- 
dence for  his  preeminence  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
pontifex  of  Ostia  was  called  pontifex  Volcani  et  aedium 
sacrarum.  The  Capitolium,  where  the  great  Etruscan 
Triad  of  the  Capitoline  Hill  in  Rome  was  worshiped,  existed 
as  early  as  the  year  199  b.  c.  The  fact  that  Ostia  was  a 
citizen  colony  probably  accounts  for  the  establishment  of 
this  cult,  which  was  perhaps  under  the  direction  of  the  state. 
The  cult  of  Castor  and  Pollux  at  Ostia — the  only  place  where 

1  There  was  also  a  shrine  of  several  emperors  in  the  barracks  of  the 

vigiles. 

94 


CONCLUSION 


95 


the  Dioskuri  are  known  to  have  been  worshiped  as  gods  of 
the  sea — was  also  a  state  cult,  established  perhaps  as  early  as 
the  third  century  b.  c.  when  Ostia  first  became  a  harbor  of 
importance.  An  annual  festival  in  honor  of  Castor  and 
Pollux  was  celebrated  by  the  Roman  people  at  Ostia. 

There  is  little  evidence  to  show  when  other  temples  were 
established.  The  temple  of  Roma  and  Augustus  was  built, 
during  the  lifetime  of  Augustus.  The  shrines  of  the  indi- 
vidual emperors  must  have  been  built  shortly  after  the  death 
of  each  emperor.  If  Carcopino's  very  doubtful  dating  of 
CIL.  xiv  375  be  accepted,  temples  of  Venus,  Fortuna,  Ceres, 
and  Spes  were  built  during  the  first  years  of  the  Empire. 
For  the  other  cults  there  is  no  evidence  that  can  be  dated 
earlier  than  the  second  century   after   Christ. 

During  the  second  and  third  centuries  of  our  era — the 
period  from  which  most  of  our  evidence  for  the  religion 
of  Ostia  dates — the  Orient  was  exerting  a  strong  influence 
on  the  religious  life  of  the  Romans.2  At  Ostia  this  influ- 
ence is  especially  strong.  It  is  seen  in  the  early  establish- 
ment and  great  prominence  of  the  cult  of  the  emperors 
which  had  its  origin  in  the  East,  as  well  as  in  the  strength 
of  the  purely  Eastern  worships.  The  most  important  of 
these  gods  at  Ostia  were  Magna  Mater,  Isis,  and  Mithras. 
The  monuments  of  the  cult  of  Magna  Mater  there  are  second 
only  to  those  of  Rome  in  importance.  Enscriptions  give 
evidence  for  more  devotees  of  [sis  and  the  other  Egyptian 
gods  at  Ostia  than  at  any  oilier  place.  The  earliest  datable 
Mithrewn  is  there,  and  more  Mithrea  have  been  found  there 
than  anywhere  else  except  at    Rome. 

The  special  importance  of  Eastern  cults  at  Ostia  a1  this 
time  is  not  surprising  in  view  of  the  fad  thai  the  city  was 
then  perhaps  the  world's  greatesl  port.8     Thither  came  mer- 

*See  Carter,  The  ReKgioua  I  ife  of  Anoient  Rome,  chap.  3. 

sCf.  Florus  i.  1,  4.     Ancug  Marcius Oatiamque  in  ipso  maris 

fluminisque  confinio  coloniam  posuit,  iam  turn  ridelicet  praeaagiena 
animo  futurum  ui  totiua  mundi  opes  ei  commeatus  illo  rdut  maritimo 
urbis  hospitit)  reciperentur. 


96  THE   CULTS   OF   OSTIA 

chants  and  mariners  from  the  whole  Mediterranean  world. 
One  would  naturally  expect  to  find  in  the  port  traces  of  the 
religious  belief  of  these  strangers,  especially  of  those  who 
came  from  the  East.  Both  Oriental  merchants  and  Romans 
who  traded  in  the  East  were  apparently  instrumental  in 
spreading  the  picturesque  religions  of  the  East.  Thus  the 
Egyptians  who  manned  the  grain  fleet  from  Alexandria 
established  at  Portus  a  splendid  Sarapeum  modelled  after 
the  great  temple  at  Alexandria.  Here  too  traders  from 
Gaza  seem  to  have  worshiped  their  native  god  Marnas,  whose 
cult  is  not  known  elsewhere  outside  of  the  East. 

But  the  presence  of  merchants  and  sailors  by  no  means 
adequately  explains  the  relative  importance  of  the  religions 
of  the  port.  The  Syrians,  who  formed  the  most  important 
class  of  foreign  merchants,4  had  very  few  shrines  at  Ostia. 
In  fact  Ostia  was  so  near  Rome  that  many  of  the  passing 
foreigners  apparently  preferred  to  perform  their  devotions 
in  the  capital  city  5  where  there  were  splendid  temples  of 
their  native  gods.  This  is  probably  the  reason  that  at  Ostia 
there  are  far  fewer  inscriptions  of  Syrian  and  Phoenician 
gods  than  at  Puteoli,  which  was  much  farther  from  Rome. 
Furthermore  the  cults  of  Magna  Mater  and  Mithras  which 
flourished  so  vigorously  at  the  port  were  not  fostered 
preeminently  by  seafaring  people,  nor  is  it  possible  that 
they  were  introduced  in  the  colony  directly  from  the  East. 
In  fact  Magna  Mater  had  long  been  worshiped  at  Rome, 
and  Mithras,  too,  if  we  may  rely  on  inscriptional  evidence, 
was  worshiped  at  Rome  before  he  was  known  at  Ostia.  It 
would  seem  then  that  the  relatively  great  importance  of  the 
Oriental  cults  at  Ostia,  as  compared  with  other  Italian 
municipalities,   is   to   be   explained   by   the    nature   of   the 

*  Cf.  Parvan,  Die  Nationalitat  der  Kaufleute  im  romischen  Kaiser- 
reiche,  pp.    110  ff. ;    Blumner,  Romische  Privatalter turner,  p.   633. 

5  There  is  definite  evidence  that  this  was  the  case  with  the  Tyrians. 
Cf.  IG.  xiv  830. 


<  (>.\(  1. 1  BIOK  97 

population  of  the  city  rather  than  by  the  presence  of  passing 

strangers. 

Now  the  special  conditions  and  the  time  "i  Ostia'a  growth 
best  explain  the  nature  of  it-  population.  During  the 
Republic  when  the  native  cults  were  still  respected,  tin- 
colony  was  still  relatively  small,  and  it.-,  inhabitants  were 
probably  not  wealthy  enough  to  build  magnificent  temples. 
When,  owing  to  the  harbor  improvements  of  Claudius  and 
Trajan,  the  city  began  to  grow,  the  native  Roman  gods  had 
lost  much  of  their  hold  upon  the  people.  This  lose  was  due 
in  part  to  the  skepticism  which  had  spread  throughout  Italy, 
but  also  to  the  fact  thai  the  native  stock  of  Italy,  which 
might  have  supported  the  purely  Roman  cult>.  had  dwindled 
greatly.  The  thousands  who  came  to  find  employment  a1 
the  docks,  warehouses,  and  shops  of  the  growing  port  musl 
have  been  very  largely  ex-slaves  and  descendants  of  slaves  of 
Oriental  stock.  This  class  of  people  had  practically  gained 
control  of  Rome's  retail  business  even  before  our  era.  and 
were  now  rivalling  the  Oriental  merchants  in  Italy"-  foreign 
trade.6  Many  of  these  people  became  members  of  the 
various  collegia  at  Ostia,  and  often  as  dendrophori  or 
Augustales  obtained  a  position  of  importance  in  the 
community. 

The  cults  of  Magna  Mater  and  of  Mithras,  and.  to  a 
lesser  extent,  that  of  Isis  were  then  chiefly  supported  at 
Ostia,  as  was  regularly  the  case  elsewhere,  by  freedmen  or 
descendants  of  freedmen  of  Eastern  origin.  Even  though 
many  of  them  may  have  abandoned  their  native  religions 
during  their  life  as  slaves,  they  were  by  nature  more  in- 
clined to  the  emotional  cults  of  the    Kast   than   10  the  more 

formal   Roman  worships.     The   -rent    Lmportan< t   these 

cults  at  Ostia  is  then  to  be  attributed  to  the  large  proportion 
of  such  classes  anion--  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony. 

"  Cf .  Pflrvan,  "/<•  dt.  p.  W-  Ktihn,  D«  opifioum  Romonorum  oondioione 
privata,  Dissertation.  Ealle,  1910;   Priedllnder,  Bittmgewhiohte  Rome, 


98  THE    CULTS   OF    OSTIA 

These  new  religions  did  not  entirely  drive  out  the  old.' 
The  chief  priest  of  the  colony  still  continued  to  be  called 
pontifex  of  Vulcan,  and  he  had  jurisdiction  even  over  the 
temples  of  the  foreign  gods.  Throughout  the  second  century 
Roman  knights  and  decuriones  continued  to  hold  the  old 
priestly  titles  of  praetor  and  aedilis  sacris  Volcani  faciundis. 
sodalis  Arulensis,  sacerdos  geni  coloniae,  flamen,  and  appar- 
ently were  not  numbered  among  the  priests  of  the  Oriental 
gods.  Furthermore  none  of  these  priesthoods  seem  to  have 
been  held  by  priests  of  the  Eastern  gods.  But  as  the  wor- 
shipers of  these  cults  grew  in  position  and  in  wealth,  they 
also  lent  dignity  to  the  religions  which  they  fostered. 
Hence  during  the  later  empire  among  the  priests  of  Isis  at 
Ostia  was  a  man  of  senatorial  rank.  Thus  the  cults  of  the 
East  which  had  long  made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  masses 
became  at  last  firmly  established. 

1  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  strength  of  the  Eastern  cults  at  Ostia 
reduced  the  number  of  votaries  of  Vulcan.  Certainly  that  god  retained 
nothing  of  the  hold  on  the  inhabitants  that  Fortuna  Prirnigeneia  did 
at  Praeneste  or  Hercules  Invictus  at  Tibur. 


■|T.\ 

1  was  bora  in  Auburn,  Alabama,  August  L2,  L886.  M  . 
father  wa>  William  Dana  Taylor,  my  mother  Mary  Roe 
Taylor,  f  was  prepared  for  college  by  the  Preparatory 
Department  of  Pritchett  <  ollege,  Glasgow,  Missouri,  and  l>\ 
the  High   School   of  .    Wisconsin.      From    L902   to 

1906  I  attended  the  CTniversity  of  Wisconsin,  from  which 
I  was  graduated  with  the  degree  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  L906. 
I  was  a  graduate  studi  ryn  Mawr  College  from  1906 

to  1909.     During  L909-1910  I  studied  al  the  (Jniversi 
Bonn  and  at  the  American  School  of  Classical  Studies   in 
Rome. 

In  1900-1907  I  held  a  scholarship  in  Latin  at  Bryn  M 
College  and  in  1907-19<  I >'   ri     a1   Fellowship  in  ! 

In  1908-1909  I  was  Reader  in  Latin  al  Bryn  Mawr  Col 
lege  and  during  L910-1912  Reader  and  Demonstrator  in 
History  of  Art  and  Classical  An  hseolo 

At  Bryn  Mawr  College  !  bave  studied  under  the  direction 
of  Professor  A.  1..  Wheeli  r  and  Professor  Tenney  Frank 
of  the  Departmenl  of  Latin,   P  "Caroline  I..  Rai 

formerly  of  the  Departmenl  of  Archaeology,  now  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum,  and  Professor  EL  N.  Sanders  and 
Professor  \Y.  ( '.  Wrig  be  Departmenl  of  Greek,     in 

Rome  I  attended  the  lectures  of  Professor  J.  !'».  Carter, 
Professor  M.  s.  Slaughter  of  th<  University  of  Wisconsin, 
and  Professor  A.  W.  Van    Buren. 

My  oral  examination  for  the  doctorate  was  held  in 
L912.     Latin  was  my  major  and  Classical   Archw 

ology    my    minor.     My  ition     was    begun     at     the 

sugg<  -a  ion  of  Profi 

American  School  in   Rome.  fully  to  acknowl 

99 


100 


VITA 


edge  my  indebtedness  to  him  and  also  to  Professor  Van 
Bnren  for  helpful  criticism.  To  Professor  Frank,  under 
whose  direction  the  work  was  completed,  I  am  indebted  for 
much  valuable  advice  and  criticism.  I  am  glad  to  take 
this  opportunity  to  express  to  him  and  to  Professor  Wheeler 
my  gratitude  for  their  interest  and  encouragement  during 
the  writing  of  this  dissertation  as  well  as  throughout  my 
graduate  course. 


Gay  lord  Bros. 

Maker* 
Syracuse,  N.  V. 
PH.  JAN.  D. »»* 


DATE  DUE 

■■.    3Z " 

""•^^"^ 

GAYLORD 

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